Publication: Trade, Emissions, and Environmental Spillover: Issue linkages in Regional Trade Agreements
Loading...
Files
186 downloads
28 downloads
Date
2023-02
ISSN
Published
2023-02
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Reducing trade barriers offers tremendous potential for economic growth and productivity gains. However, higher incomes and increased industrial output can negatively impact the environment. This paper studies the impacts of trade liberalization on the emissions of ozone depleting substances regulated under the Montreal Protocol. While freer trade might challenge the gains achieved by the Montreal Protocol by increasing domestic use of ozone depleting substances, environmental provisions in regional trade agreements linked to Montreal Protocol participation might mitigate such negative environmental outcomes. The paper provides causal evidence that signing a new regional trade agreement leads to increases in consumption of ozone depleting substances relative to Montreal Protocol targets. Environmental provisions aimed at controlling ozone depleting substances offset the increase in consumption of ozone depleting substances observed in regional trade agreements without such provisions. The findings show that the effect is rooted in preventing a “reduction in overcompliance” with the Montreal Protocol observed in regional trade agreements without provisions. The findings also show that cumulative exposure to trade agreements, especially those with ozone depleting substances provisions, increases the speed at which countries ratify the Montreal Protocol amendments.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Lundberg, Clark; Szmurlo, Daniel; Abman, Ryan. 2023. Trade, Emissions, and Environmental Spillover: Issue linkages in Regional Trade Agreements. Polkicy Research Working Papers;10319. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/39483 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Citations
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Warming Up to Trade? Harnessing International Trade to Support Climate Change Objectives(Washington, DC, 2007-06-18)This study on harnessing international trade to support climate change objectives assesses the following: 1) What are the main policy prescriptions for reducing greenhouse gases that are employed by OECD countries and how do they impact the competitiveness of their energy-intensive industries? 2) On account of the impact on competitiveness, is there is leakage of energy intensive industries from OECD countries to developing countries? 3) Under what conditions can one justify trade measures under the WTO regime? What are the impacts of levying trade measures on trade flows and emissions? 4) What are the underlying trade and investment barriers to the use of clean energy technologies in developing countries? 5) In addition to tariff and non-tariff barriers, are there other issues impacting the diffusion of clean energy technologies in developing countries? 6) Is liberalization of renewable and clean coal technologies a plausible solution to assisting developing countries in achieving a low-carbon growth path? 7) What conditions are necessary for negotiating a "climate-friendly" package under the current WTO framework? The key findings and recommendations of this report include: a) Industrial competitiveness in Kyoto implementing countries suffers more from energy efficiency standards than from carbon taxation policies; b) Industrial competitiveness affected by carbon taxation policies are often offset by "policy packages"; c) Some evidence supports leakage of carbon-intensive countries to developing countries; d) Trade measures can be justified only under certain conditions; e) The proposed EU "Kyoto Tariff" may hurt the United States' trade balance; f) Varied levels of tariffs are impediments to clean energy technology diffusion in developing countries.Publication Study on Financing the Destruction of Unwanted Ozone-Depleting Substances through the Voluntary Carbon Market(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010)This report was prepared by Investment Climate Facility (ICF) international with direction from World Bank's Montreal protocol unit and the project team. While Montreal protocol has achieved remarkable success in reducing production and consumption of ozone depleting substances (ODS) worldwide, a significant amount of ODS still remains in equipments, products, and stockpiles. This report finds that significant opportunity exists for destroying ODS through the voluntary carbon market. The high global warming potential (GWP) of ODS means that their destruction has the ability to generate significant volumes of carbon credits, which could then be sold in the voluntary carbon market. Using the voluntary market is likely a win-win opportunity; incentives are created for the recovery and destruction of ODS through the carbon credits that can be earned, and the buyers pay for real and verifiable emission reductions from the destruction of ODS that would have otherwise been emitted.Publication OPS3 - Progressing toward Environmental Results : Third Overall Performance Study on the GEF, Complete Report(Washington, DC: Global Environment Facility, 2005-06)The purpose of the Third Overall Performance Study (OPS3), commissioned by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council, is "to assess the extent to which GEF has achieved, or is on its way towards achieving its main objectives, as laid down in the GEF Instrument and subsequent decisions by the GEF Council and the Assembly, including key documents such as the Operational Strategy and the Policy Recommendations agreed as part of the Third Replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund." (GEF/C.23/4) The OPS3 team recognizes that this study is taking place at a critical time and will provide input that is relevant to the Fourth Replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund, which will be taking place shortly after the publication of the OPS3 study. A primary goal of OPS3 is to provide relevant, timely, and actionable recommendations for each of the Terms of Reference (TOR) areas to support the replenishment process and associated programming. The scope of OPS3 is defined by the "Terms of Reference for the Third Overall Performance Study approved by the GEF Council on May 21, 2004, and it covers five main themes : 1) Results of GEF activities. 2) Sustainability of results at the country level. 3) GEF as a catalytic institution. 4) GEF policies, institutional structure, and partnerships. 5) GEF implementation processes.Publication Trade and Climate Change : An Analytical Review of Key Issues(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-08)The last decade has witnessed an increasing global awareness of human impact on the planet's climate and its likely consequences. However, strategic and structural complexities hinder further compliance and participation in efforts to establish a global agreement for climate change mitigation. This induces economists and environmentalists to further investigate the two-way relationship between trade and climate change, that is, climate-related consequences of liberalized trade and possible benefits of using trade policy for climate change mitigation.Publication The Effectiveness of Environmental Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-03)Trade liberalization can spur environmental degradation. Concerns over these adverse impacts have led to a debate over the need for environmental provisions in regional trade agreements (RTAs), however the effectiveness of such provisions is unknown. This paper provides new causal evidence that environmental provisions are effective in limiting deforestation following the entry into force of RTAs. It exploits high-resolution, satellite-derived estimates of deforestation and identify the content of RTAs using a new dataset with detailed information on individual provisions. Accounting for the potential endogeneity of environmental provisions in RTAs, the paper finds that the inclusion of specific provisions aimed at protecting forests and/or biodiversity entirely offsets the net increases in forest loss observed in similar RTAs without such provisions. The inclusion of these provisions limits agricultural land expansion, but does not completely offset increases in total agricultural production. The effects are concentrated in tropical, developing countries with greater biodiversity.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022(Washington, DC, 2022-11)The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.Publication Unlocking Blue Carbon Development(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-11)The purpose of this paper is to provide a practical framework to guide governments in catalyzing and scaling up public and private investment in Blue Carbon as part of their blue economy development. It does this by describing in detail a Blue Carbon Readiness Framework, a step-by-step, well-illustrated guide with simple checklists. Client countries can use the illustrations and checklists to determine their readiness to catalyze and scale up investment in blue carbon credit finance. The Blue Carbon Readiness Framework consists of three pillars: 1. Data and Analytics; 2. Policy and Institutions; 3. Finance.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.