WTO在贸易自由化与环境保护博弈中的角色刍议

A Critical assessment of the Role of the WTO: Trade Liberalization and Environmental Protection

20世纪70年代以来,环境问题在贸易谈判中占有越来越重要的地位。随着国际贸易的发展及其带来的环境恶化问题,经济自由化与环境保护的关系更加紧密。世界贸易组织(WTO)作为唯一的国际性的贸易约束管理机构,成为环保与贸易发展问题专家关注的焦点。WTO在对待环保问题上采取一系列积极的措施:WTO的导言特别强调可持续发展的重要性;同时,WTO中新设立了贸易与环境协会(CTE)。尽管如此,WTO在贸易自由化与环境保护问题中应该扮演何种角色仍然受到人们的关注。自由主义学者认为作为贸易管理组织的WTO在环保的问题上过于激进;而环保专家则认为WTO在环保方面过于保守。该文分析了WTO在贸易自由化与环保问题中的作用,从而得出结论:WTO必须做出相应的调整,才能使贸易自由化与环境保护互惠互利,达到双赢的目的。

Since 1970s, the environmental issue has gradually obtained importance in trade discussion. Trade liberalization and environmental protection have become more and more interlinked because of the eye - catching development of the international trade and its effect on the serious environmental degradation. As the only one international biding organization regulating trade, the WTO, inevitably, has come into the spot light. A clear reference to the importance of sustainable development lies in the preamble of the WTO and a new Committee on Trade and Environment （CTE） was established. However, the role of the WTO in this issue is still hotly debated. This paper attempts to analyze the role of the WTO in the complicated linkage between trade liberalization and environmental protection.