Global Climate Change and the Trade System: Bridging the Culture Gap

Abstract

Effective climate change policies, such as the introduction of userfees on carbon dioxide emissions, would have great implications for international economic competitiveness. Such policies can only hope to succeed in tandem with international trade rules that implicitly support them. This contribution proposes the establishment of a joint negotiating group composed of trade and climate negotiators as a way to better address the global warming problem in conjunction with the development of appropriate international economic framework conditions. It is argued that treatment of this issue within the framework of existing institutions alone will not result in the broad-based dialogue and highest-level involvement likely required for successfully ad dressing the climate change/trade interlinkage.