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TAIT Trade and Climate Conference

   

 
TAIT Second Conference
Climate change, trade and competitiveness: Issues for the WTO
A business-government-academic conference
Wednesday, 16th June to Friday, 18th June, 2010 

Venue
World Trade Organization, Room CR
154, rue de Lausanne
Geneva, Switzerland
Wednesday, 16th June, 2010 I 10.00 to 19.30
Thursday, 17th June, 2010 I 9.00 to 18.00
Friday, 18th June, 2010 I 9.15 to 13.00

Organised by
Centre for Trade and Economic Integration (CTEI) at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. 

in collaboration with
The Economic Research and Statistics Division of the Secretariat of the World Trade Organization and the World Bank.

 
Papers
 
Programme
 
Biographies of speakers
 
Conference Summary
 
Keynote by James Bacchus
Conference background
 
In the absence of near-term agreement on globally binding emission targets in the wake of Copenhagen, nations will rely increasingly on nationally determined climate policies. As these policies vary in stringency, governments are likely to face political pressures to “level the playing field” – particularly in energy-intensive industries open to international competition.
 
This pressure has already produced industry support in a number of nations (e.g. free allowances of carbon permits) and could lead to the introduction of climate-related subsidies and tariffs in some nations. Such competitiveness-linked policies can distort trade – a fact that brings them into potential conflict with the WTO rulebook on subsidies and new tariffs. Consequently, ‘climate-related tariffs and subsidies’ may pose challenges to the world trading system.
 
While the WTO has long experience in addressing such disputes, this experience typically concerns issues involving narrow economic sectors, or a narrow range of policies. Trade and climate conflicts would be different.
 
To the extent that climate policies are widely viewed as national imperatives, any WTO dispute-resolution decisions on trade and climate would engage a broad set of politically influential actors. Unless governments find political accommodation on the relationship between trade-related policies and climate policies, this could pose risks to the WTO, forcing nations to choose between respecting the WTO rulebook, on one hand, and maintaining political support for climate policies, on the other. .
 
As world trade in goods, services, food, technology and energy will be decisive to global climate adaptation and mitigation, it is vital that governments do not allow climate-related trade conflicts to undermine support for the rules-based system.
 		    
 
Conference goals
 
  Marshal the best available research on all aspects of the problem(economics, legal, political and practical);
  Outline all the main categories of solutions;
  Foster a thorough discussion of the options by scholars and stakeholders.
   

 

 
Topics include:
 
  The impact of climate change on trade patterns
  Climate linked policies, trade, and development
  The eco-legal interface between climate-linked tariffs and subsidies
  Practical issues related to the calculation of carbon content
  Economics aspects of climate-linked tariffs and subsidies (competitiveness
and leakage)
  Lessons from other International Environmental Agreements
   

 

Registration and admission

Registration for this conference is mandatory for those without WTO accreditation. Those with WTO accreditation are also invited to register. Should you wish to attend, please send an email to events@wto.org  with a copy to ctei@graduateinstitute.ch  at the latest by Friday, 11th June 2010 c.o.b. Emails requesting registration should include the participant's name, position and affiliation together with full contact details. There is no charge for participation.

Admission to the conference Registered participants without WTO accreditation need to enter the WTO by the Registration and Security Office and bring official identification. Please note that only official ID/Passports are accepted as identification (student card or organization badge are not accepted). Please be advised that the WTO Security Office cannot deliver badges for participants who register on the day or days of the conference. Please note that delivery of badges will start one hour before the conference.

 

Organisers and Sponsors