CAPE TOWN: Two decades ago, the birth of the World Trade Organisation rang alarm bells in the environmental community.
Would such a comprehensive and ambitious trade agreement steamroll existing environment standards and regulations?
Would environmental conventions that restrict and ban trade — as in the case of ozone-depleting substances and endangered species — be ignored in favour of opening markets? Would these new binding and enforceable global trade rules seal the fate of progress on environmental protection?
The 10th Ministerial Conference of the WTO is going on in Nairobi.
In 2015, the dread from 20 years ago now seems largely unfounded. Not only has the WTO tended to respect environmental standards and regulations where they are not egregiously protectionist, it has clearly established that international environmental agreements have full standing in the context of trade rules.
These agreements have even been used to help interpret WTO rules in ways that benefit the environment. Further, the WTO has showed a clear preference for allowing the environmental agreements themselves to deal directly with the issues that arise.
As Unep’s work with the International Institute for Sustainable Development and numerous other partners has shown, measures to liberalise trade and safeguard the environment increasingly go hand-in-hand.
Policies geared towards sustainable development, such as greening agricultural practices or eco-innovation, can lead to new trade opportunities. Trade itself, under proper conditions, can be a driver of resource efficiency and contribute to mitigating and adapting to climate change.
Does this entente between trade and environment mean we can look forward to a complete harmonisation of the two? The answer depends on how you see the challenges of the future.
On one hand, the draft ministerial statement for the 10th meeting makes no mention of the environment or climate change, and only one passing reference to sustainable development.
This could suggest that the issues may be so integrated into market thinking that they are effectively behind us.
On the other hand, the question remains as to whether the trading system is contributing adequately to solving the broader challenges of sustainable development, improving human health and well-being, and addressing inequality and injustice.
The recent climate conference in Paris underlined not only how quickly we are approaching the dire future of a disrupted climate, but also that present levels of commitment are inadequate to shield us entirely from those disastrous climate scenarios.
How well equipped is the WTO — and the other trade agreements that make up the multilateral trading system — to support resolute action to save the climate?
Many in the trade world will argue that governments are free to pursue their environmental objectives provided they do so in a way that does not discriminate against trading partners.
Others, however, feel that the scale of our environmental challenges requires exceptional measures and that the imperative of avoiding environmental disaster may have to trump even well-established trade practices.
This 20th anniversary year is, for the WTO, an excellent opportunity to begin examining whether it is genuinely “fit for purpose” in light of the significant challenges we are facing.
After all, the preamble to the act establishing the WTO calls for trade relations to be conducted in such a way as to allow “for the optimal use of the world’s resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable development.”
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