Legal Analysis of the Applicability of International Cooperation in Addressing Climate Change in the International Trade Sector: Case of the WTO

Abstract

Climate change has impacts on global society in different aspects, including those on the trade industry. Similarly, the trade industry contributes to global emissions of Greenhouse Gases through different technologies involved, and different rules adopted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) or related agreements. Such circulation of impacts implicates that neither climate change agreements nor the WTO can deal with climate change alone, but through international cooperation. Therefore, this study explores the status of international cooperation between the WTO and the Paris Agreement for addressing climate change in the trade industry. It also assesses different challenges faced by such cooperation, and proposes recommendations to addressing those challenges.