Dispute resolution and 'environmental' provisions in the WTO: promising developments for environmental matters
| Autor | Natalia Rodríguez Uribe |
| Cargo | LLB Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia |
| Páginas | 161-193 |
ACDI, Bogotá, ISSN: 2027-1131/ISSNe: 2145-4493, Vol. 3, pp. 161-193, 2010
161
Dispute resolution and “environmental”
provisions in the WTO: promising
developments for environmental matters
Fecha de recepción: 6 de agosto de 2009
Fecha de aceptación: 1 de febrero de 2010
Natalia Rodríguez Uribe*
Resumen: En la actualidad, la política internacional tiende hacia la unicación
económica y cultural (globalización), en la cual la totalidad de las naciones se
encuentran vinculadas por interacciones comerciales. Para que los compro-
misos adquiridos en materia de protección ambiental sean respetados, el de-
recho ambiental debe dejar de ser considerado como una disciplina separada
y buscar sinergias que le permitan convertirse en un actor importante en las
relaciones comerciales. En el presente ensayo se argumenta que el comercio
internacional y el derecho ambiental han coevolucionado en las últimas tres
décadas, hasta llegar a un balance en el concepto de desarrollo sostenible.
Este artículo explora esta coevolución, mientras propone que la Organi-
zación Mundial del Comercio (OMC) puede jugar un importante rol en el
cumplimiento de los objetivos internacionales de protección ambiental si sus
disposiciones “verdes” y su sistema de resolución de conictos son utiliza-
dos para promoverlos, tal como está sucediendo. Para ilustrar este punto, se
presenta un breve resumen de los tratados comerciales y ambientales suscri-
tos desde los años setenta, seguido de una explicación de las disposiciones
* LLB Un iversidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colom bia, 2004), Master in International
Environmental Law Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia, 2008), LLM Environmental Law
Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia, 2010), PhD Law Candidate Macquarie University
(Sydney, Australia). E-mail: natalia.rodriguez-uribe@mq.edu.au
ACDI, Bogotá, ISSN: 2027-1131/ISSNe: 2145-4493, Vol. 3, pp. 7-411, 2010
Dispute resolution and “environmental” provisions in the
WTO: promising developments for environmental matters
162
legales de la OMC que pueden ser consideradas como “verdes”, con el n
de hallar puntos de convergencia que puedan ser utilizados por los países
miembros no solo para justicar la adopción de normativas domésticas de
protección ambiental, sino también para instar a los otros signatarios en el
cumplimiento de sus obligaciones en esta área.
Palabras clave: Organización Mundial del Comercio (OMC), mecanismos de
resolución de conictos, derecho ambiental internacional, GATT, desarro-
llo sostenible.
Abstract: International politics are moving towards an economical and cul-
tural unication (globalisation), in which all nations are related by trade in-
teractions. If environmental protection commitments are to be honoured,
environmental law has to cease to be considered a separate discipline and nd
synergies that allow it to become an important stakeholder in trade relations.
In this paper it is argued that international commerce and environmental
law have coevolved in the last three decades to reach a balance embodied in
the concept of sustainable development.
The essay explores this coevolution, and proposes that the World
Trade Organization (WTO) can play an important role in environmental
protection goals if its “green provisions” and dispute resolution mecha-
nism are to be used to promote them, as is already happening. In order to
illustrate this point, a brief overview of commercial and environmental
treaties signed since the seventies is presented, followed by an explanation
of the WTO’s treaty suite provisions that can be considered as “green”, in
the hopes of nding convergence points that can be used by the member
parties in order not only to justify the passing of environmental protection
domestic legislations, but also to compel other countries to comply with
their obligations in this area.
Key words: World Trade Organization (WTO), dispute resolution mechanisms,
international environmental law, GATT, sustainable development.
ACDI, Bogotá, ISSN: 2027-1131/ISSNe: 2145-4493, Vol. 3, pp. 161-193, 2010
Natalia Rodríguez Uribe
163
“But while conict remains between the advocates of environmental
protection and the supporters of a liberal trading system, attention is
increasingly focused on so-called win-win-win outcomes, i.e. situations
that provide improved market access, development, and environmental
protection”.
Marc Williams1
“It may well be time, then, for environmental NGOs to temper their
traditional antipathy to the WTO, and to try working with it rather than
against it”.
Elizabeth R. DeSombre and J. Samuel Barkin2
1. Introduction
It would be naïve to think of Environmental Law as a world of its own,
oblivious to the realities of global trade and commerce trends.3 In reality,
international politics are moving towards an economical and cultural uni-
cation called globalisation, and within it all nations, regardless of their status
as “developed”, “developing” or “least developed” countries, are related in
an intricate network of trade interactions.4
Nevertheless, international action and awareness of environmental
concerns has increased in the last 30 years,5 with the signing of innumerable
Multilateral Environmental Agreements (hereinafter MEAs) and the rapid
evolution of domestic law and policy in various countries dealing with these
1 Williams, Marc. Trade and environment in the world trading system: a decade of
stalemate? Global Environmental Politics, 1(4), November 2001, p. 2.
2 DeSombre, Elizabeth R. & Barkin, J. Samuel. Turtles and trade: the WTO’s Acceptance
of Environmental Trade Restrictions. Global Environmental Politics, 2(1), February 2002, p. 18.
3 Oren Perez, for example, comments that people nd hard to think as trade and the
environment as two intertwined disciplines, often analysing them as two separate and often
opposite areas. Perez, Oren. International Trade Law and the Environment. In: Richardson,
Benjamin J. & Wood, Stepan (eds.). Environmental Law for sustainability. Por tland: Har t
Publishing, 2007, p. 385.
4 Ellis, Jaye & Wood, Stepan. International Environmental Law. In: Richardson,
Environmental Law..., ibid., p. 344.
5 See, eg, Maser, Chris. Ecological diversity in sustainable de velopment. The vital and forgotten
dimension. Boca Ratón: Lewis Publishers, 1999, pp. 9-13.
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