This article argues that climate change effects have sharpened the least developed countries’ (LDCs) need to move towards a green economy. As respective markets tend to grow, the LDCs would benefit if the production of and research in renewable energy (RE) especially wind and solar energy equipments and technologies are subsidized globally. Despite the existence of the policy room in other related international regulatory framework, the Subsidies Agreement of the World Trade Organization makes incentivizing RE industries significantly difficult, if not impossible. It has been recommended that law reform, by way of incorporating special carve-outs in the Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Agreement, is the path that would assist LDCs in their smoother transition to a green economy.
BigdeliS. Z. (2009). Incentive schemes to promote renewables and the WTO law of subsidies. In CottierT.NartovaO.BigdeliS. Z. (Eds.), International trade regulation and the mitigation of climate change: World trade forum (pp. 163–172). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3.
BigdeliS. Z. (2011). Resurrecting the dead? The expired non-actionable subsidies and the lingering question of ‘green space’. Manchester Journal of International Economic Law, 8(2), 2–37.
LowP.MarceauG.ReinaudJ. (2011). The Interface between the Trade and Climate Change Regimes: Scoping the Issues, Staff Working Paper, Economic Research and Statistics Division, World Trade Organization, Available at: http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/reser_e/ersd201101_e.pdf pp. 27–30.
RubiniL. (2012). Ain’t wastin’ time no more: Subsidies for renewable energy, the SCM agreement, policy space, and law reform. Journal of International Economic Law. 15(2), 525–579.
13.
UN
. (2011). Program of action for the least developed countries for the decade 2011–2020, Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (UN Document No. A/CONF.219/3/Rev.1), Istanbul, Turkey, 9–13 May, Distributed 23May2011.
14.
UN (2012). The Future We Want, Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. UN Document No. A/CONF.216/L.1, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 20–22 June, Distributed 19June, 2012.
UN-OHRLLS (2013). Background note for the high-level event on sustainable energy for LDCs, 23SeptemberNew York. Available at: http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G03671.pdf. p. 4.
18.
Van den BosscheP. (2012). The law and policy of the World Trade Organization (pp. 559–60). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition.
19.
WTO (2007). WTO Committee on Trade and Environment Special Session (CTESS), Continued Work Under Paragraph 31(III) of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, WTO Document No. JOB (07)/54, 27April2007. Manuscript submitted for publication.
