Environmental Goods and Services

Under the Doha declaration, WTO members have agreed to certain negotiations on 'the reduction or, as appropriate, elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers to environmental goods and services'. This potential liberalisation of environmental goods and services (EGS) is seen by many as an area within WTO negotiations with particular potential for so-called 'win-win' outcomes, that could further economic development whilst at the same time promoting environmental protection.

However, a lack of clarity persists as to the definition and identification of 'environmental goods and services'. FIELD has worked in partnership with various NGOs, such as the Consumer Unity and Trusts Society, India (CUTS) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and produced several papers that seek to define EGS and analyse the EGS mandate under Doha:

A Primer on Environmental Goods and Services: Definitional Challenges to the Negotiation of Further Liberalisation (FIELD and RSPB)

This paper looks at the challenges of defining what constitutes 'environmental goods and services' and the possible advantages and disadvantages of broadening the scope of their definition, and goes on to address the possible challenges and opportunities of further liberalisation. Finally it analyses the prospects for possible 'win-win' achievements in this area.

This paper is now available online.

Definitional challenges and win-win opportunities for developing countries in the Doha negotiations (FIELD and CUTS)

CUTS commissioned FIELD to write a research paper on recent negotiations on environmental goods and services (EGS). This paper discusses issues raised by the call for trade liberalisation in the EGS sector. Part I examines the environment industry, various definitions of environmental goods and services from international organisations and from developed and developing countries.

The paper looks at the definitional challenges and explores briefly the developments that have occurred since the WTO Doha declaration. It also goes on to analyse the mandate under the Doha Work Programme, and the implications for trade, and identifies and examines the environmental regulatory framework required to adapt the increasing demand for EGS. Finally, the paper looks at the various challenges related to market structure.

This paper will be available online soon.

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