Building on the Canadian approach to resolve the stalemate on the trade and environment agenda in the World Trade Organization

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the competing views on the link between trade and environment in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and come up with a proposal that better clarifies the scope of legality of environmentally motivated unilateral trade measures in the multilateral trading system. Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a doctrinal approach to legal research in providing an exegesis on the various efforts towards the integration of trade and environment in the WTO framework. Findings – Employing the theory of transnational social justice as its analytical tool, the paper suggests that a state contemplating the use of environmentally motivated unilateral trade measures first extend positive measures to the communities in other states that are affected by the purported measure. Accordingly, it argues that unilateral trade measures are allowed in the system only as a last resort and only if their application runs congruent to the values and objectives recognized by the system. Originality/value – It is hoped that the discussion and proposition in this paper will contribute to the discourse on the clarification of the status of environmentally motivated unilateral trade measures in the WTO.