Trade talks on green trade revived at COP27
As part of her efforts to give the trade watchdog a deeper role in its efforts to ease climate change, the head of the World Trade Organization wants to revive negotiations on a global trade deal on environmental protection.
The discussions around the possibility of slashing tariffs and other trade barriers on goods that can address climate change, such as solar panels or smart-heating controls, are seen as an important step towards reducing the cost of environmental protection.
Despite this, discussions at the WTO collapsed in 2016 due to a disagreement between China and Western countries concerning which products should be put on the environmental list.
On the sidelines of the COP27 climate conference that took place late on Monday, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters that she was hoping to see the revival of an environmental goods and services agreement.
According to her, services should also be included in the talks in order to ensure a successful outcome. A few examples of these are the mitigation of air pollution and the treatment of wastewater.
As a result, you will need to have a friendly trade regime for renewables and other eco-friendly products, she said, pointing out that in many countries, tariffs on fossil fuel products are lower than those on renewable products.
After a years-long drought of multilateral agreements, the future of the global trade body has been in doubt, but the clinching of agreements in June has helped restore faith and get things back on track.
As part of exploratory discussions concerning a possible revival of a green trade deal, the 164 members of the WTO have begun to discuss how to proceed, although Okonjo-Iweala said some countries had expressed concerns about the possibility, without naming them.
It was suggested that I start with a preliminary list of about 50 or 60 products which could be expanded as time wore on.
Source- Reuters
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