The Sustainability Revolution in International Trade Agreements

Provisions on ‘sustainability’ or ‘sustainable development’, once seen as aspirational and relatively innocuous, are changing the face of international trade agreements. An assessment of negotiations and agreed texts shows that debates around, and provisions establishing, sustainability commitments are now a mainstay of trade negotiations, with recent agreements dedicating entire chapters to this field. Besides the standard exceptions that preserve domestic policy space, contemporary trade agreements feature positive commitments on environmental preservation, respect for labour standards, and the fulfilment of a growing number of objectives originating from global sustainability negotiations.

This volume is dedicated to examining the legal, political, and economic impacts of the incorporation of sustainability provisions as routine elements in trade agreements. The chapters examine recent advances in formulating and enforcing sustainability commitments and the future outlook for trade agreements as sustainability tools. The authors consider linkages among the various goals and mechanisms, and the conceptual debates surrounding their effects on trade and sustainability practices and literatures. The volume draws on expertise from different parts of the world and engages experts familiar with those nuances not only to underscore the importance and prevalence of these trends but also to unpack and analyse their broader significance for these intersecting domains.