This chapter looks at the relationship between the World Trade Organization (WTO) and international trade in terms of international environmental law. Twenty-five years after the WTO system came into operation it appears that neither trade law nor environmental law have trumped each other. Rather, there has been a process of accommodation which is still ongoing. The chapter ends by making some conclusions on the arguments presented in this book and the issues currently being faced. The current policy of encouraging free trade cannot always be made environmentally friendly and this will always be the case. The problem becomes clear if we consider climate change. Free trade and globalisation by nature exacerbates the difficulties of regulating environmental issues. In addition, one of the key problems with sustainable development as a concept is that there has been too much emphasis on development, and not nearly enough on sustainability, then a policy of promoting free trade is part of that problem.
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13. International Trade and Environmental Protection
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32. Third party settlement of international disputes
This chapter discusses the third party settlement of international disputes. It covers arbitration and the origins of international dispute settlement; the idea of judicial settlement of international disputes; the International Court of Justice, interstate arbitration, dispute settlement under UNCLOS, the WTO dispute settlement body, and international investment tribunals.
