Might WTO Law Prevent Climate Change Mitigation Affecting Agricultural Trade?

The Great Taboo – Or will somebody please tell me where I am wrong?

The multilateral trading system is presently facing what some observers call an existential crisis with possibly dramatic consequences. So much so that nobody finds the time or the courage to consider a potentially even more harmful problem. Climate footprint differentiation demands discrimination. Granted, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions challenge for agriculture starts at the national level. But it has trade and investment implications which policymakers, trade diplomats and scientists seem to ignore, or to avoid. To many of them I have proposed, but never seen, a serious discussion of the problems WTO non-discrimination rules and disciplines could mean for climate change mitigation.

When policymakers fail to ask the right questions, at home and at the international level, should scholars tell them – or join the weekly demonstrations for rapid climate change action? Can we please discuss this among the few agricultural trade lawyers with some knowledge of Public International Law, WTO Law and the Paris Climate Change Agreement?

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