The WTO and International Environmental Law: Towards a Conciliation

The coming into existence of the WTO agreements has affected international economic relations and activities to an unprecedented extent by formalizing and institutionalizing them into a multilateral system. The WTO has also brought into being mechanisms to monitor compliance with the agreements. Meanwhile over the years norms of international environmental law have also evolved at both international and regional levels. Some treaties require signatory nations to change their own legal systems to harmonize them with the new norms aimed at protecting the earth's environment. The very important question which arises as a result is: Do the WTO norms override those of international environmental law? The author of this extremely topical book has made a detailed study of these two aspects of international law, discussed the interface between them with the aim of identifying methods of harmonious interpretation. The author argues that it is possible to make the rules under the law ofinternat ional trade and of environmental law compatible by giving primary importance to humanity's ultimate goal of environmentally sustainable economic development.