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The UK needs a climate-just trade strategy, one that reins in corporate power, protects public services, enhances a green industrial strategy, and builds a reparative approach.
Read the latest @Cmmonwealth report, co-authored by @GalloglySwan and me. https://www.common-wealth.co.uk/reports/a-climate-retrofit-for-uk-trade
Read the latest @Cmmonwealth report, co-authored by @GalloglySwan and me. https://www.common-wealth.co.uk/reports/a-climate-retrofit-for-uk-trade
Brexit could be a moment to fundamentally reassess our approach to trade and investment. The danger remains, however, that the UK will exploit the uncertainty of Brexit to double-down on some of the worst aspects of the status quo: an accelerated race-to-the-bottom.
Having gone from being in world’s largest single market to negotiating trade deals alone, we may find ourselves at the receiving end of the types of extractive trade deals we’ve inflicted on others, damaging our already underwhelming performance in delivering a just transition.
Trade is intrinsically linked to our climate. We must scale decarbonisation, but how we decarbonise matters. Considering the UK’s role as one of the highest historic emitters, and current consumption emissions, ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ must be taken seriously.
The UK should establish an Independent UK Trade Monitoring Body, to broaden measurement of trade success, prioritising, for example, the number and quality of jobs created, the labour share of GDP, and the tonnes of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
It’s indefensible that states fear WTO disputes and corporate lawsuits for taking climate-related action. The UK should advocate a Peace Clause on trade and investment rules for pandemic responses, and a Climate Waiver for targeted exemptions for Paris Agreement-related action.
~ controversial take ~
Instead of barrelling ahead into FTAs with economies multiple times our size, the UK should seek temporary continuity agreements, to prepare a robust analysis of how trade and investment can be harnessed to achieve domestic goals and climate commitments.
Instead of barrelling ahead into FTAs with economies multiple times our size, the UK should seek temporary continuity agreements, to prepare a robust analysis of how trade and investment can be harnessed to achieve domestic goals and climate commitments.
Trade and investment can enforce liberalisation of public services, as seen in their inclusion in recent bilateral and plurilateral agreements, such as TiSA. Public services need to be off the table in all trade deals. This includes not joining CPTPP and scrapping TiSA.
One of the most corrosive aspects of trade and investment is the binding one-way ISDS mechanism, allowing corporations to sue governments in secret courts for action that violates their ‘legitimate expectations’ of profits, from minimum wages to environmental protections.
In 2012, Ecuador was forced to pay $1.4 billion after terminating an oil production agreement through ISDS, despite the oil production causing environmental destruction and resulting in human rights violations. We should revise all Bilateral Investment Treaties to exclude ISDS.
Fossil fuel has its own ISDS: the Energy Charter Treaty. OpenEXP reveal the cumulative CO2 emissions protected by ECT from 1998-2018 are estimated at 57 Gt CO2, out of which 61% are committed emissions from Intra-ECT investments in fossil fuel 
We should withdrawal from the ECT
We should withdrawal from the ECT
Intellectual properly rules are a major barrier for green technological upgrading. As Martin Khor said, “technology transfer is essential for meeting the human and sustainable development objectives” and create employment practises that are environmentally sound.
Guiding our trade and investment approach should be a resilient and fair green industrial strategy. We need to leverage this to decarbonise economic activities, change consumption to reduce emissions, scale good green jobs and industries, and root out intersectional inequalities.
A massive thank you to the incredible @GalloglySwan for co-authoring, and to @KevinPGallagher, Richard Kozul-Wright, Rashmi Banga, Rachel Thrasher, @joecguinan, Ruth Bergan, @sullivlj and Mariama Williams for their very helpful feedback throughout the development of the paper!
