OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers
Selected studies addressing the policy interface between trade and environment prepared for use within the OECD. They address such issues a liberalizing trade in goods that affect the environment, and trade in environmental goods and services.
- ISSN: 18166881 (online)
- https://doi.org/10.1787/18166881
Environment and Regional Trade Agreements
Emerging Trends and Policy Drivers
This report examines trends in the use of environmental provisions in Regional Trade Agreements and identifies factors which may explain the presence or absence of these provisions. The report builds on work of the OECD Joint Working Party on Trade and Environment (JWPTE) and includes results of an informal survey of delegates.
Analysis of the environmental provisions in RTAs reveals an encouraging upward trend. While basic provisions remain the most common types found in RTAs, the incidence of more substantive provisions has increased significantly in recent years. Among these, environmental co-operation has been the most common type.
Several factors may have contributed to this evolution. These include countries extending their political mandates for RTAs, for example to include provisions for compliance with multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), as well as a general accumulation of experience with the use of environmental provisions.
Keywords: free trade agreements, trade and environment, regional trade agreements, environmental provisions, trade policy
JEL:
F18: International Economics / Trade / Trade and Environment;
N50: Economic History / Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment, and Extractive Industries / Economic History: Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment, and Extractive Industries: General, International, or Comparative;
Q56: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Environmental Economics / Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth;
F13: International Economics / Trade / Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
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