Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Contemporary Issues in Environmental Law pp 63–86Cite as

Policies Towards Tackling Climate Change and Their Compatibility with the WTO

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Environmental Protection in the European Union ((ENVPROTEC,volume 5))

Abstract

Japan and the EU have been implementing domestic measures to tackle climate change. Although measures such as technical standards, eco-labelling and emissions trade systems are expected to contribute towards cutting greenhouse gas emissions, they often evoke discussions regarding their compatibility with WTO regulations. Would an obligation to comply with the energy efficiency standards comprise a technical barrier to trade? Would free allocation of allowances under the emissions trade system be regarded as subsidies under the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures? Would border tax adjustments relate to the principle of Most Favoured Nations (MFN) or National Treatment (NT)? This study examines these issues from the perspective of WTO jurisprudence.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    IPCC (2014), p. 4.

  2. 2.

    http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/brief/causes/index_en.htm

  3. 3.

    http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/causes.html

  4. 4.

    Supra., footnote 1 at p. 1.

  5. 5.

    Ibid., p. 8.

  6. 6.

    Article 3.1.

  7. 7.

    Decision 1/CMP.8, Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol pursuant to its Article 3, paragraph 9 (the Doha Amendment), I. para.4.

  8. 8.

    http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/g-gas/index_en.htm

  9. 9.

    http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/ondanka/kaisai/dai28/siryou.pdf (in Japanese).

  10. 10.

    Decision 1/CMP.7, Outcome of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol at its sixteenth session, p. 4.

  11. 11.

    Ibid., p. 7 at footnote q.

  12. 12.

    http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/package/index_en.htm

  13. 13.

    Department for Communities and Local Government, Proposed changes to Part L (Conservation of fuel and power) of the Building Regulations 2012/13 in England, Consultation stage impact assessment (January 2012), para 1.3.

  14. 14.

    http://www.rt-batiment.fr/batiments-neufs/reglementation-thermique-2012/presentation.html

  15. 15.

    Article 78.1 and 78.2 of the Energy Conservation Act.

  16. 16.

    Article 79.1 of the Energy Conservation Act.

  17. 17.

    Article 79.2 of the Energy Conservation Act.

  18. 18.

    Article 79.3 of the Energy Conservation Act.

  19. 19.

    Article 21 of the Enforcement Ordinance of the Energy Conservation Act.

  20. 20.

    Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (2010), p. 9.

  21. 21.

    United States: Certain Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) Requirements, Report of the Panel, WT/DS384/R, WT/DS386/R, November 18, 2011.

  22. 22.

    Ibid., para. 7.554.

  23. 23.

    Ibid., para. 7.555.

  24. 24.

    Ibid., para. 7.556.

  25. 25.

    Ibid., para. 7.557.

  26. 26.

    Charnovitz S (2003), p. 149.

  27. 27.

    Infra, footnote 94.

  28. 28.

    United States: Measures Concerning the Importation, Marketing and Sale of Tuna and Tuna Products, Report of the Panel, WT/DS381/R, September 15, 2011, para. 7.388.

  29. 29.

    Ibid.

  30. 30.

    Ibid.

  31. 31.

    United States: Measures Concerning the Importation, Marketing and Sale of Tuna and Tuna Products, Report of the Appellate Body, WT/DS381/AB/R, 16 May 2012, para. 330.

  32. 32.

    Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade, Specific Trade Concerns Related to Labelling Brought to the Attention of the Committee Since 1995, Note by the Secretariat, G/TBT/W/184, 4 October 2002, Item 18, pp. 13–14.

  33. 33.

    Charnovitz (2003), p. 151.

  34. 34.

    Intervention by the representative of Canada at the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade at Minutes of the Meeting Held on 1 March 1996, G/TBT/M/4, 10 June 1996, para. 80.

  35. 35.

    http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecolabel/facts-and-figures.html

  36. 36.

    Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market.

  37. 37.

    Ibid., Article 4.1.

  38. 38.

    Ibid., Article 2 (g) (emphasis added).

  39. 39.

    Ibid., Article 4.2.

  40. 40.

    Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (2010), p. 22.

  41. 41.

    Keidanren (2013), p. 1.

  42. 42.

    Ibid., p. 2.

  43. 43.

    Ibid., p. 3.

  44. 44.

    Ibid.

  45. 45.

    Keidanren (2014).

  46. 46.

    Ibid. (418.84 million t-CO2 in 2005, 395.60 million t-CO2 in 2013).

  47. 47.

    Ibid. (82.52 million t-CO2 in 2005, 88.67 million t-CO2 in 2013).

  48. 48.

    Ibid. (90.58 million t-CO2 in 2005, 83.28 million t-CO2 in 2013).

  49. 49.

    Yamaguchi M (2012), p. 152.

  50. 50.

    Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC.

  51. 51.

    Ibid., Article 9.1.

  52. 52.

    Ibid., Article 10.

  53. 53.

    Ibid., Article 16.3.

  54. 54.

    Ibid., Article 16.4.

  55. 55.

    Petsonk A (1999), pp. 208–209.

  56. 56.

    Ibid.

  57. 57.

    United States: Preliminary Determinations with Respect to Certain Softwood Lumber from Canada, Report of the Panel, WT/DS236/R, 1 November, 2002, paras. 7.17–7.29.

  58. 58.

    EU Commission letter to Denmark and the UK on 12 April 2000 and 28 November 2001, State Aid Cases N653/99 and N416/2001.

  59. 59.

    Ibid. See also Weishaar S (2006), pp. 15–23.

  60. 60.

    Lodefalk M and Storey M (2005), p. 43.

  61. 61.

    For example, ‘as such’ and ‘as applied’ was an issue in the Canada–Export Credits and Loan Guarantees for Regional Aircraft, Report of the Panel, WT/DS222/R, 28 January, 2002. In this case, it was disputed whether or not the use of ‘EDC Canada Account’, an account of the Canadian 100 % state owned company, for supporting an aircraft industry would be inconsistent with the SCM Agreement. The WTO Panel ruled that the EDC Canada Account as such is not inconsistent with the SCM Agreement because the conditions for use of the Account did not demonstrate the existence of mandatory subsidisation (paras. 7.95–7.97). However, as applied to a specific case of the Account financing to Air Wisconsin, the Panel contended that it is a subsidy contingent upon export performance, since Canada has failed to show that it is in conformity with the interest rate provisions of the OECD Arrangement (paras. 7.180–7.182). In the same manner, the ‘cap and trade’ as such would not be WTO incompatible because surplus allowances are not mandatory. It would be considered WTO incompatible only when surplus allowances are given to a certain industrial sector.

  62. 62.

    Canada: Measures Affecting the Export of Civilian Aircraft, Report of the Appellate Body, WT/DS70/AB/R, August 2, 1999, para. 173.

  63. 63.

    European Communities and Certain Member States: Measures Affecting Trade in Large Civil Aircraft, Report of the Appellate Body, WT/DS316/AB/R, 18 May 2011, para. 1052.

  64. 64.

    DEFRA (2005), p. 20.

  65. 65.

    DEFRA (2007), p. 22.

  66. 66.

    The EU Emissions Trading System (EUETS),

    http://ec.europa.eu/clima/publications/docs/factsheet_ets_en.pdf

  67. 67.

    Ibid., p. 2.

  68. 68.

    Ibid., p. 3.

  69. 69.

    Ibid., p. 4.

  70. 70.

    Ibid., pp. 3–4.

  71. 71.

    Sixth National Communication and First Biennial Report from the European Union under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, SWD (2014) 1 final, Brussels, 10. 1. 2014, p. 27.

  72. 72.

    Keidanren (2007), Attachment 2, On Emissions Trading Systems.

  73. 73.

    Keidanren (2012).

  74. 74.

    Japan has held consultations with developing countries since 2011 and signed a bilateral document with Mongolia, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Maldives, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Palau, Cambodia and Mexico. See Recent Development of the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM), October 2014, Government of Japan, p. 11.

  75. 75.

    Decision 1/CP.18, Agreed outcome pursuant to the Bali Action Plan, FCCC/CP/2012/8/Add.1, para. 41.

  76. 76.

    Supra., footnote 75 at p. 5.

  77. 77.

    Ibid., p. 7.

  78. 78.

    Ibid., p. 6.

  79. 79.

    WTO Rules and Procedures and Their Implication for the Kyoto Protocol, A Discussion Paper Prepared by Timothy E. Deal, Senior Vice President, United States Council for International Business, p. 3.

  80. 80.

    Ibid.

  81. 81.

    Ibid.

  82. 82.

    BDI (2008).

  83. 83.

    Businesseurope (2008), p. 2.

  84. 84.

    Footnote 80 at p. 4.

  85. 85.

    Takamura Y and Kameyama Y (2009), p. 21.

  86. 86.

    Ibid.

  87. 87.

    Ibid.

  88. 88.

    Ibid.

  89. 89.

    Border Tax Adjustments, Report of the Working Party adopted on 2 December 1970 (L/3464), para. 14.

  90. 90.

    United State s- Restrictions on Imports of Tuna, Panel Report, BISD 39S/155 (3 September 1991).

  91. 91.

    Ibid., para. 5.11.

  92. 92.

    Ibid., para. 5.14.

  93. 93.

    United States – Taxes on Petroleum and Certain Imported Substances, Panel Report, BISD 34S/136 (June 1987), para. 5.2.7–5.2.8.

  94. 94.

    According to Charnovitz, this information was formerly available on the WTO website at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/cte03_e.htm. However, it is not accessible as of today. See Charnovitz S (2003), pp. 147–148.

  95. 95.

    Korea – Measure Affecting Imports of Fresh, Chilled and Frozen Beef, Report of the Appellate Body, WT/DS/161/AB/R, WT/DS/169/AB/R, December 10 2000.

  96. 96.

    Ibid., para. 161.

  97. 97.

    Ibid., para. 164.

  98. 98.

    China – Measures Related to the Exportation of Various Raw Materials, Reports of the Panel, WT/DS394/R, WT/DS395/R, WT/DS398/R, 5 July 2011.

  99. 99.

    Ibid., para. 7.480.

  100. 100.

    Ibid., para. 7.502.

  101. 101.

    Ibid., para. 7.511.

  102. 102.

    Ibid., para. 7.516.

  103. 103.

    United States – Import Prohibition of Certain Shrimp and Shrimp Products, Report of the Appellate Body, WT/DS/58/AB/R, October 12 1998.

  104. 104.

    Ibid., para. 128.

  105. 105.

    Ibid., para. 132.

  106. 106.

    IPCC (2014), p. 10.

  107. 107.

    Footnote 104, para. 135.

  108. 108.

    China-Measures Related to the Exportation of Rare Earths, Tungsten and Molybdenum, Report of the Appellate Body, August 7 2014, WT/DS431/AB/R, WT/DS432/AB/R, WT/DS433/AB/R, para. 5.88.

  109. 109.

    Ibid., para. 5.90.

  110. 110.

    http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news14_e/envir_08jul14_e.htm

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Cooperation Bureau, Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), Tokyo, Japan

    Kiyotaka Morita

Authors
  1. Kiyotaka Morita
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kiyotaka Morita .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Kunitachi, Tokyo, Japan

    Yumiko Nakanishi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer Japan

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Morita, K. (2016). Policies Towards Tackling Climate Change and Their Compatibility with the WTO. In: Nakanishi, Y. (eds) Contemporary Issues in Environmental Law. Environmental Protection in the European Union, vol 5. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55435-6_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation