Combating Climate Change under the WTO: Exploring the Relevance of Process and Production Methods

Ch. 8. P. 131–148.

Boklan D.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 is focused on taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impact. SDG 13 provides for the integration of climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning. To implement this integration, such national policies and strategies need to focus on the process and production methods (PPMs) as they are the main contributors of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. The mechanisms enshrined in the Paris Agreement are aimed to prevent the carbon leakage and internalise costs for combating climate change. Currently, as many as 190 countries have ratified the Paris Agreement. Thus, even those states which have not ratified or have withdrawn from the Agreement of the Agreement. Most of the domestic measures directed at the mitigation of the GHG emissions are connected with the PPMs. PPMs can be affected by various WTO law disciplines including taxes, technical regulations and standards. This chapter will assess whether these WTO disciplines are compatible with the commitments WTO Members have taken under the Paris Agreement, and consequently how the WTO rulebook can help Members further the fulfillment of their obligations in accordance with SDG 13.

Keywords: WTO, climate change, carbon tax, exceptions of Art. XX of the GATT 1994, PPMs, likeness, carbon labeling

Publication based on the results of: Protection of the state interests under conditions of crisis in multilateral trading system (2021)

In book

Rethinking, Repackaging and Rescuing World Trade Law in the Post-Pandemic Era

Book Rethinking, Repackaging, and Rescuing World Trade Law in the Post-Pandemic Era. Issue 25: Studies in International Trade and Investment Law. , Oxford: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021.