Multilateral Environmental Agreements in the WTO: Silence Speaks Volumes

Authors

Henrik Horn, Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)Follow
Petros C. Mavroidis, Columbia Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

2013

Abstract

This study contributes to the debate concerning the appropriate role of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) in in WTO dispute settlement. Its distinguishing feature is that it seeks to address this relationship in light of the reason why the parties have chosen to separate their obligations into two bodies of law without providing an explicit nexus between them. The basic conclusion is that legislators’ silence concerning this relationship should speak volumes to WTO adjudicating bodies: MEAs should not be automatically understood as imposing legally binding obligations on WTO Members, but could be used as sources of factual information.

Disciplines

Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | Environmental Law | International Trade Law | Law | Law and Economics

Center/Program

Center for Law and Economic Studies

Recommended Citation

Henrik Horn & Petros C. Mavroidis, Multilateral Environmental Agreements in the WTO: Silence Speaks Volumes, International Journal of Economic Theory, Vol. 10, p. 147, 2014; Research Institute of Industrial Economics IFN Working Paper No. 983, 2013; Columbia University School of Law, The Center for Law & Economic Studies Working Paper No. 493 (2013).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/2375