To Dystopia and Beyond: The WTO in a Warming Megaregional World
13 Pages Posted: 10 Sep 2019
Date Written: August 22, 2019
Abstract
This paper will highlight the linkages between the climate crisis and trade negotiations in a dystopic post-WTO world. It will argue that the window of opportunity to achieve an effective multilateral trade regime has closed and will be sealed shut by accelerating climate change. The post-WTO regime is a megaregional regime, and it will exclude those countries that do not get on board before the destabilizing effects of the climate crisis make their inclusion impossible to achieve. Geopolitical shifts destabilized the WTO regime and have led to its collapse. The effects of the climate crisis will be even more dramatic. This paper examines the (not even) worst-case scenario for the post-WTO 21st century, in order to highlight the importance of managing the risk of catastrophic economic, ecological and security consequences arising from the convergence of multilateral institution failure and the worsening climate crisis.
Keywords: WTO, climate change, developing countries, megaregional trade agreements
JEL Classification: K32, K33, O19
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation