What is the WTO’s role in and impact on sustainable development and the environment?
One of the biggest problems with the liberalization of trade is the potential for it to negatively affect sustainable development. The IISD says, “Trade liberalization is one of the essential engines of economic growth. As such it has considerable potential as a force for sustainable development. Unfortunately, the link is not automatic. Where trade policy is in conflict with environment and development policy, it can retard or even undermine the achievement of sustainable development.” This is why the WTO’s involvement in sustainable development is vital. If the WTO does not prevent major trade policies from conflicting with environment and development policy it will be making future trading between nations more difficult, and perhaps eventually impossible. But this is where the rub lies. The WTO has no specific agreement dealing with the environmental protection or sustainable development but does have a number of agreements which include provisions dealing with environmental concern
