Charnovitz, Steve2014-10-302014-10-302014-10https://hdl.handle.net/10986/20500This paper provides a detailed explanation how the law of the World Trade Organization regulates environmental subsidies with a focus on renewable energy subsidies. The paper begins by discussing the economic justifications for such subsidies and the criticisms of them and then gives examples of categories of subsidies. The paper provides an overview of the relevant World Trade Organization rules and case law, including the recent Canada-Renewable Energy case. The paper also makes specific recommendations for how World Trade Organization law can be improved and discusses the literature on reform proposals. The study finds that because of a lack of clarity in World Trade Organizaion rules, for some clean energy subsidies, a government will not know in advance whether the subsidy is World Trade Organization-legal.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOABATEMENTADVERSE EFFECTSAGREEMENT ON AGRICULTUREAGREEMENT ON SUBSIDIESAGREEMENT ON TRADE-RELATED ASPECTSAGRICULTURAL SUBSIDIESAGRICULTUREAPPELLATE BODYAPPELLATE BODY REPORTBANK LENDINGBENCHMARKBUDGET CONSTRAINTSCAPITAL MARKETCARBONCARBON EMISSIONSCARBON TAXCASE LAWCLIMATE CHANGECOALCOMMODITYCOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURECOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPETITIVENESSCOMPLEX TASKCONFLICT OF LAWCONSUMERSCOST SAVINGSCOUNTERVAILING DUTIESCOUNTERVAILING MEASURESCOUNTRY MARKETCURRENCYDEBTDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRYDEVELOPMENT POLICYDIMINISHING RETURNSDIRECT TRANSFERDISADVANTAGED REGIONSDISGUISED RESTRICTIONDISPUTE SETTLEMENTDISPUTE SETTLEMENT SYSTEMDOMESTIC INDUSTRIESDOMESTIC MARKETDUMPINGECONOMIC EFFECTSECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC INSTRUMENTSECONOMIC JUSTIFICATIONECONOMIC LAWECONOMIC WELFAREECONOMICSECONOMISTSEMISSIONSENERGY CONSUMPTIONENERGY EFFICIENCYENERGY SUBSIDIESENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITSENVIRONMENTAL EXTERNALITIESENVIRONMENTAL GOODSENVIRONMENTAL LAWENVIRONMENTAL POLICIESENVIRONMENTAL POLICYENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMSENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONSENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCESENVIRONMENTAL SUBSIDIESENVIRONMENTAL SUBSIDYENVIRONMENTAL TREATIESENVIRONMENTSEQUITY CAPITALEXPENDITURESEXPORT CREDITEXPORT CREDITSEXPORT MARKETSEXPORT SUBSIDYEXPORTSEXTERNALITIESFINANCIAL BENEFITFINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL RESOURCESFISCAL POLICIESFOREIGN COMPANIESFOREIGN COUNTRIESFOREIGN EXPORT SUBSIDIESFOREIGN GOVERNMENTFOREIGN INVESTMENTFOSSIL FUELSFREE RIDERSGENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICESGLOBAL ECONOMYGLOBAL WELFAREGOVERNMENT GRANTSGOVERNMENT GUARANTEEGOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONGOVERNMENT OWNERSHIPGOVERNMENT REGULATIONGOVERNMENT SUBSIDIESGOVERNMENT SUBSIDYGREEN INVESTMENTSGROWTH THEORYINCOMEINCOMESINCREASING RETURNSINFORMATION ASYMMETRIESINTANGIBLESINTELLECTUAL PROPERTYINTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTSINTEREST RATESINTERMEDIATE INPUTSINTERNALIZATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL COSTSINTERNATIONAL AGENCIESINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL CONSENSUSINTERNATIONAL LAWINTERNATIONAL MARKETSINTERNATIONAL TRADEINTERNATIONAL TRADE LAWINVESTMENT DECISIONJOB CREATIONJURISDICTIONLEGAL CONSTRAINTSMANAGED TRADEMARGINAL BENEFITSMARGINAL COSTSMARKET ACCESSMARKET CONDITIONSMARKET DISTORTIONSMARKET EXPECTATIONSMARKET FAILUREMARKET FAILURESMARKET PRICESMARKET SHAREMATERIAL INJURYNATIONAL AUTHORITIESNEGATIVE EXTERNALITIESNEGATIVE EXTERNALITYNON-ACTIONABLE SUBSIDIESNON-TARIFF BARRIERSOUTPUTOVERHEAD COSTSPANEL REPORTPATENTSPOLICY MAKERSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLLUTERPOLLUTERSPOLLUTIONPOLLUTION CONTROLPORTFOLIOPOSITIVE EXTERNALITIESPOSITIVE EXTERNALITYPRIVATE INVESTMENTSPRIVATE INVESTORSPRIVATIZATIONPRIVATIZATIONSPRODUCERSPRODUCTION PROCESSPRODUCTION PROCESSESPROPERTY RIGHTSPUBLIC GOODPUBLIC GOODSPUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPSRATE OF RETURNREGULATORY REQUIREMENTSREMEDIESRENEWABLE ENERGIESRENEWABLE ENERGYRESOURCE MANAGEMENTSECURITY EXCEPTIONSSETTLEMENT SYSTEMSOCIAL COSTSSUBSIDIZATIONSUBSIDIZED IMPORTSSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTTARIFF BARRIERSTAXTAX ADVANTAGESTAX BENEFITSTAX CREDITTAX CREDITSTAX SUBSIDYTAX TREATMENTTAXATIONTECHNOLOGY TRANSFERTRADE BARRIERSTRADE DISPUTESTRADE POLICYTRADE RESTRICTIONSTRADE RULESTRADING SYSTEMTRANSFER OF FUNDSTRANSPARENCYUNFAIR COMPETITIONUNJUSTIFIABLE DISCRIMINATIONURUGUAY ROUNDVENTURE CAPITALVENTURE CAPITALISTWORLD ECONOMYWORLD MARKETWORLD TRADEWORLD TRADE ORGANIZATIONWORLD TRADING SYSTEMWTO10.1596/1813-9450-7060