Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 6 • Number 19 • 3rd November 2006

Civil Society Queries WTO D-G on Hot Trade Topics

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WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy phased tough questions during a one-hour public internet chat on 18 October with representatives of business, academia, NGOs, and media from around the world. While most questions focused on prospects for re-launching the Doha round negotiations and the growing trend towards bilateral and regional trade agreements, Lamy also was asked to comment on the WTO and global warming.

Out of 150 questions, only five addressed environmental and natural resources concerns.

On the WTO and global warming, Mr. Lamy reaffirmed that “the optimal use of world’s resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable development” continues to be an “overarching principle for the interpretation of all WTO commitments”. He further stated that “the WTO recognises that states have the (conditional) right to adopt measures relating to the conservation of natural resources even if such measures lead to some trade restriction”.

When some remained unsatisfied that the WTO was not doing enough to urgently confront global warming, Lamy reiterated that the power to “take measures which are necessary to protect natural resources and to protect human, animal and plant life”, although recognised and encouraged by WTO rules, is up to individual governments to initiate.

Others suggested that the WTO should ensure that poorer nations are compensated for their wealth in natural resources, especially in carbon storage services. Although Lamy expressed hope that environmental assets would be traded “with an eye to equity and the intrinsic value of the assets in question”, he rejected the idea that the WTO should mandate this exchange, remarking “in the absence of complete markets, it is for governments [not the WTO] to decide how such issues as unpriced or badly priced environmental assets should be addressed”.

The transcript of the chat can be found at http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news06_e/dgchat_18oct06_e.htm.

“Lamy Fields 150 Questions from Around the World in Online Chat,” WTO NEWS RELEASE, 18 October 2006.