European University Institute Library

Trade in the Service of Sustainable Development, Linking Trade to Labour Rights and Environmental Standards, Olivier De Schutter

eng

no index present

non fiction

Trade in the Service of Sustainable Development

903597010

Olivier De Schutter

Linking Trade to Labour Rights and Environmental Standards

In the Bretton Woods era, trade liberalization, the improvement of labour rights and working conditions, and the strengthening of environmental policies, were seen as mutually supportive. But is this always true? Can we continue to pretend to protect the rights of workers and to improve environmental protection, particularly through climate change mitigation strategies, within an agenda focused on trade liberalization? Is it credible to pursue trade policies that aim to expand the volumes of trade, without linking such policies to labour and environmental standards, seen as 'non-trade' concerns? This book asks these questions, offering a detailed analysis of whether linkage is desirable and legally acceptable under the disciplines of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It concludes that trade can work for sustainable development, but only if we see it as a means for social and environmental progress, including climate change mitigation, and if we avoid fetichizing it as an end to be pursued for its own sake.--, Provided by Publisher

1. Setting the stage: the limits of fragmentation 2. Sanctions against goods or services that do not comply: WTO disciplines 3. The special regime of border tax adjustments: levelling the playing field 4. Generalized systems of preferences: the "conditional preferences" approach 5. Labelling schemes: supporting ethical consumerism 6. Public procurement: the power of the purse 7. Conclusions