Emissions Trading and WTO Law

The legal arrangements applying to the economic and commercial aspects of managing natural resources have traditionally been unrelated to those applying to the management of ecosystems and the protection of the environment. However, the interface between what have increasingly been described as economic law and environmental law has become an issue of both practical and theoretical importance at all levels of the legal system. Dr Felicity Deane's global analysis of the relationship between emissions trading law and the law of the World Trade Organization is both timely and important. She skillfully reviews the range of complex legal issues. The result is a significant contribution to the legal literature.' - Douglas Fisher, Queensland University of Technology, AustraliaEmissions trading is an economic legal framework designed to address the global environmental crisis of climate change. This book analyses the broader impacts of these frameworks - particularly the relationship between emissions trading schemes and the WTO. Felicity Deane focuses primarily on the rules of the WTO as a tool to demonstrate where the boundaries exist for acceptable interface with international trade. She explores the meaning of goods and products, services, subsidies and border adjustments within the context of the WTO rules and considers the impacts of these definitions on emissions trading frameworks. Academics and students with an interest in the WTO and the convergence of trade and environment will find this an insightful book. The points raised will also be useful to legal professionals, economists and policymakers involved in emissions trading practices.