Trade and climate: How the EU can protect the Paris Agreement
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Janet M Eaton
Feb 28, 2018, 10:04:34 AM2/28/18
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https://www.euractiv.com/section/climate-environment/opinion/trade-and-climate-how-the-eu-
can-protect-the-paris-agreement/
Trade and climate: How the EU can protect the Paris Agreement
DISCLAIMER: All opinions in this column reflect the views of the author(s), not of
EURACTIV.com PLC.
By Mathilde Dupré and Samuel Leré
1:06
In its "CETA action plan", presented in October, France committed to including, in all future
trade agreements, "compliance with the Paris Agreement among the essential element
clauses" for cooperation. [Storm Crypt / Flickr]
It is possible to effectively integrate the Paris Agreement into new trade deals, including
CETA and the upcoming JEFTA with Japan. But it requires a bit more creativity than the
recent political declarations, write Mathilde Dupré and Samuel Leré.
Mathilde Dupré is trade policy officer at the Institut Veblen for economic reform, a think tank
based in Paris. Samuel Leré is environnement and globalisation officer at Fondation pour la
Nature et l´Homme, a French NGO created by Nicolas Hulot.
The climate is the greatest missing part from the investment and trade deal between the EU
and Canada. Such was the conclusion from the official expert report that the French
authorities commissioned to evaluate the health and environmental impacts of the
Canada-EU free trade agreement, known as CETA, which came into force five months ago.
Since then, French and EU policy makers have made quite a few announcements. The latest
came two weeks ago, when the Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström claimed on twitter
that "Paris deal reference is needed in all EU trade agreement today".
This is a step ahead for the Commission, but it is also a very light and symbolic gesture as
nothing concrete would happen if a country doesn´t comply with its climate commitments. In
the meantime, the EU mandate to negotiate the Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership (TTIP) with the US remains valid and discussions might resume at any time.
The French government has shown willingness to go a step further. "No Paris Agreement, no
trade agreement. The US knows what to expect" recently said Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, the
Foreign affairs Secretary of State in front of the parliament. For its part, Nicolas Hulot,
Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, declared again on the 14th of February
that in the current context "CETA is not compatible with the fight against climate change".
In its "CETA action plan", presented in October, France already committed to including, in all
future trade agreements, "compliance with the Paris Agreement among the essential element
clauses of the political dialogue and cooperation agreements that are decided along with
trade agreements - these trade agreements may be revoked or suspended in the case of
confirmed violations of essential elements clauses, consistent with customary international
law."
Unfortunately, studies reveal that these clauses, already used to promote and monitor the
respect of human rights, are far from being adequate and sufficient to make a real difference.
Furthermore, the compliance criteria remains unclear and might only mean "having ratified"
the Paris Agreement, regardless of the compliance with national pledges. In that case, such
a provision would only allow to target countries such as Russia - even the US would appear
as "compliant", however paradoxical it would be.
In reality, it is possible to effectively integrate the Paris Agreement into new trade deals,
including CETA and the upcoming JEFTA with Japan. But it requires a bit more creativity
than the recent political declarations. A two-stage process would make it possible :
First, new provisions could be inserted in trade deals in order to allow for the agreement
(or at least parts of its clauses) to be suspended if a Party fails to meet its GHG emissions
and climate finance commitment or to regularly upgrade them. This provision would be the
first very concrete step towards subjecting trade law to environmental law.
Secondly, to make this provision operational and binding, trade agreements could plan for
the creation of an ad-hoc committee formed by scientists and NGO representatives in order
to assess the extent to which countries have met their commitments (based on the
information provided by those countries to the UNFCCC) and propose the appropriate trade
sanctions if needed.
This provision alone will obviously not be sufficient to make trade deals fully compatible with
the Paris agreement. It will be crucial that countries take further action by removing from
bilateral trade agreements all the provisions that have the potential to harm the climate.
The contentious "investor state dispute settlement mechanism", which allows companies to
sue governments that try to protect the climate, should for instance be dropped. And the
objectives of the regulatory cooperation process which aims to promote a convergence of
standards should prioritize environmental protection over trade and investment promotion
and ensure the full respect of the precautionary principle.
Such a reform would offer a concrete response to the White House´s position on climate
change and the Paris Agreement. More than 2 years after COP21, it would also strengthen
the implementation of the climate deal and prevent any rollback of national climate
commitments. Its implementation should of course not give any country a new excuse not to
increase, as planned, its national climate contribution, especially in 2018 in the context of the
Talanoa Dialogue.
Finally, it would incentivise private actors to operate and invest in states where the energy
transition and the climate remain a top priority.
The French President made a speech at the Bonn Climate Conference (COP23) as well as
the 2018 WEF suggesting that trade and globalisation should be made compatible with the
protection of the Commons. If Emmanuel Macron wants to walk the talk on climate, he
should now use his political clout to convince other Heads of State and Government. The
run-up to the June G7 summit in Quebec, Canada will provide him with a great opportunity to
tackle this.
--------------
Calls grow for `green clause´ in EU trade deals
There is widespread consensus on the need to level the playing field for European
companies confronted with environmental and social dumping from foreign competitors. Just
how hard the EU should hit on wrongdoers remains a major sticking point, however.
-------------------------------
can-protect-the-paris-agreement/
Trade and climate: How the EU can protect the Paris Agreement
DISCLAIMER: All opinions in this column reflect the views of the author(s), not of
EURACTIV.com PLC.
By Mathilde Dupré and Samuel Leré
1:06
In its "CETA action plan", presented in October, France committed to including, in all future
trade agreements, "compliance with the Paris Agreement among the essential element
clauses" for cooperation. [Storm Crypt / Flickr]
It is possible to effectively integrate the Paris Agreement into new trade deals, including
CETA and the upcoming JEFTA with Japan. But it requires a bit more creativity than the
recent political declarations, write Mathilde Dupré and Samuel Leré.
Mathilde Dupré is trade policy officer at the Institut Veblen for economic reform, a think tank
based in Paris. Samuel Leré is environnement and globalisation officer at Fondation pour la
Nature et l´Homme, a French NGO created by Nicolas Hulot.
The climate is the greatest missing part from the investment and trade deal between the EU
and Canada. Such was the conclusion from the official expert report that the French
authorities commissioned to evaluate the health and environmental impacts of the
Canada-EU free trade agreement, known as CETA, which came into force five months ago.
Since then, French and EU policy makers have made quite a few announcements. The latest
came two weeks ago, when the Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström claimed on twitter
that "Paris deal reference is needed in all EU trade agreement today".
This is a step ahead for the Commission, but it is also a very light and symbolic gesture as
nothing concrete would happen if a country doesn´t comply with its climate commitments. In
the meantime, the EU mandate to negotiate the Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership (TTIP) with the US remains valid and discussions might resume at any time.
The French government has shown willingness to go a step further. "No Paris Agreement, no
trade agreement. The US knows what to expect" recently said Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, the
Foreign affairs Secretary of State in front of the parliament. For its part, Nicolas Hulot,
Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, declared again on the 14th of February
that in the current context "CETA is not compatible with the fight against climate change".
In its "CETA action plan", presented in October, France already committed to including, in all
future trade agreements, "compliance with the Paris Agreement among the essential element
clauses of the political dialogue and cooperation agreements that are decided along with
trade agreements - these trade agreements may be revoked or suspended in the case of
confirmed violations of essential elements clauses, consistent with customary international
law."
Unfortunately, studies reveal that these clauses, already used to promote and monitor the
respect of human rights, are far from being adequate and sufficient to make a real difference.
Furthermore, the compliance criteria remains unclear and might only mean "having ratified"
the Paris Agreement, regardless of the compliance with national pledges. In that case, such
a provision would only allow to target countries such as Russia - even the US would appear
as "compliant", however paradoxical it would be.
In reality, it is possible to effectively integrate the Paris Agreement into new trade deals,
including CETA and the upcoming JEFTA with Japan. But it requires a bit more creativity
than the recent political declarations. A two-stage process would make it possible :
First, new provisions could be inserted in trade deals in order to allow for the agreement
(or at least parts of its clauses) to be suspended if a Party fails to meet its GHG emissions
and climate finance commitment or to regularly upgrade them. This provision would be the
first very concrete step towards subjecting trade law to environmental law.
Secondly, to make this provision operational and binding, trade agreements could plan for
the creation of an ad-hoc committee formed by scientists and NGO representatives in order
to assess the extent to which countries have met their commitments (based on the
information provided by those countries to the UNFCCC) and propose the appropriate trade
sanctions if needed.
This provision alone will obviously not be sufficient to make trade deals fully compatible with
the Paris agreement. It will be crucial that countries take further action by removing from
bilateral trade agreements all the provisions that have the potential to harm the climate.
The contentious "investor state dispute settlement mechanism", which allows companies to
sue governments that try to protect the climate, should for instance be dropped. And the
objectives of the regulatory cooperation process which aims to promote a convergence of
standards should prioritize environmental protection over trade and investment promotion
and ensure the full respect of the precautionary principle.
Such a reform would offer a concrete response to the White House´s position on climate
change and the Paris Agreement. More than 2 years after COP21, it would also strengthen
the implementation of the climate deal and prevent any rollback of national climate
commitments. Its implementation should of course not give any country a new excuse not to
increase, as planned, its national climate contribution, especially in 2018 in the context of the
Talanoa Dialogue.
Finally, it would incentivise private actors to operate and invest in states where the energy
transition and the climate remain a top priority.
The French President made a speech at the Bonn Climate Conference (COP23) as well as
the 2018 WEF suggesting that trade and globalisation should be made compatible with the
protection of the Commons. If Emmanuel Macron wants to walk the talk on climate, he
should now use his political clout to convince other Heads of State and Government. The
run-up to the June G7 summit in Quebec, Canada will provide him with a great opportunity to
tackle this.
--------------
Calls grow for `green clause´ in EU trade deals
There is widespread consensus on the need to level the playing field for European
companies confronted with environmental and social dumping from foreign competitors. Just
how hard the EU should hit on wrongdoers remains a major sticking point, however.
-------------------------------
Michel Vanhoorne
Feb 28, 2018, 11:26:22 AM2/28/18
to canada-...@googlegroups.com
My opinion: As CETA is in the final stage (ratification), the Paris climate agreement (nor anything else) can be included. The ratification should be refused by one of the concerned parliaments (38 in Europe) and a treaty be renogiated to include other provisions.
More fundamentally:
in our view all these international trade and investment agreements are irreconciable with climate protection and environment objectives because of their implicit objectives.
More international trade means more transport, thus more greenhouse gases emisssions
More growth (currently understood as growth of
GDP) means more consumption, more use of natural resources, more
waste etc,
Kind regards,
Michel Vanhoorne
Coordinator of the Left Ecological Forum (Belgium)
tel. 09 222 40 33
GSM 0497 57 94 59
Coordinator of the Left Ecological Forum (Belgium)
tel. 09 222 40 33
GSM 0497 57 94 59
Op 28/02/2018 om 16:04 schreef Janet M
Eaton:
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