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A Better Balance is Possible Between Trade & Environment

Sierra Club Canada's Trade and Environment Campaign is centered on the mounting evidence that unfettered economic globalization and its agenda of free trade, de-regulation, and privatization implemented over the past two decades without public consultation, has had a devastating impact on our immediate environment, the ecosystems of the planet and broader planetary cycles that are now deeply out of balance from pollution, depletion of resources and excessive CO2 and other emissions. The Trade and Environment Campaign focuses on: (i) the cascade of bi-lateral and internal FTAs being pushed through without adequate consultation or impact studies (ii) the imperative of re-negotiating NAFTA, and all free trade agreements, iii) working to rid all trade agreements of the unjust, undemocratic and unsustainable NAFTA Chapter 11 investor state mechanism, and iv) working towards fairer trade models and sustainable economic systems. The Trade and Environment Campaign works to increase awareness of how globalization, free trade and NAFTA impact the environment and ecosystems and works with the membership and other national NGO´s and coalitions to oppose trade agreements that are harmful to the environment, local economies, and sovereignty.

Latest Posts

'The Shale Gale Is a Retirement Party'

Submitted by Janet Eaton on Thu, 2013-03-28 14:44

So concludes an expert analyst of the natural gas boom. Brace for bust.. By Andrew Nikiforuk, Yesterday, TheTyee.ca

Photo: Natural gas: After the boom killed prices, expect the flame to diminish as production declines, says energy consultant Arthur Berman.

Every day a government agency or industry group in North America still hails natural gas mined from deep shale rock formations as "the bridging fuel" that will power a brighter if not cleaner energy tomorrow. Cheap natural gas, goes the mantra, will solve our energy woes and build a new energy foundation.... Read more »

Further steps given by Ecuador to terminate its bilateral investment treaty with the USA

Submitted by Janet Eaton on Thu, 2013-03-28 14:32

Paula Hodges, Charles Kaplan and Peter Godwin, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP

On 6 March 2013, Ecuador’s President, Mr Rafael Correa, requested that Ecuador’s legislature (the National Assembly) approve the denunciation of the bilateral investment treaty (BIT) between the USA and Ecuador (the Treaty). This is a further testament to the Government of Ecuador’s disaffection with the investor-state protection system implemented before Mr Correa became the country’s President in 2007. This blog post provides general background on this development and briefly discusses the legal consequences of Ecuador denouncing the Treaty.... Read more »

How NAFTA, FIPA and other investment deals put democracy and the environment at risk

Submitted by Janet Eaton on Thu, 2013-03-28 14:08

A U.S.-funded energy firm, Lone Pine Resources, is using investor rights provisions in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to challenge Quebec’s 2011 moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. Lone Pine says the moratorium upsets its right to profit from oil and gas mining in the St. Lawrence Valley, and is asking for $250 million in compensation.

This case proves that trade and investment deals like NAFTA, the proposed Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), and Canada’s many Foreign Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements (FIPAs) undermine our basic notions of democracy, threaten needed environmental regulations, and put private profits above the public good. Communities, not private firms, should have the final say on fracking and other projects that threaten water sources, the environment and public health – and there should be no penalty for saying “no.”... Read more »

Economic Integration: Towards a North America - EU Transatlantic Free Trade Zone

Submitted by Janet Eaton on Tue, 2013-03-26 10:01

By Dana Gabriel, Pressure is mounting on Canada to finish up a long-delayed trade deal with the EU. Despite outstanding issues that still must be settled, there is a final push to try and complete an agreement this summer. If both sides are able to secure a deal, it would lay the groundwork for the proposed U.S.-EU trade pact. There is the possibility that the U.S.-EU transatlantic trade talks could also include the other NAFTA partners and maybe even other countries. Mexico has already shown interest in joining and if Canada can't put the final touches on their own agreement with the EU, they might also be part of the negotiations. This would facilitate plans for a coming NAFTA-EU free trade zone and the formation of a transatlantic economic union.... Read more »

The Other Conclave : Can the WTO save itself from irrelevance? The Econmist May 16th

Submitted by Janet Eaton on Mon, 2013-03-25 18:43

THE World Trade Organisation’s general council will skip the plume of smoke when it chooses its new director-general in May. But what it would give for just a fraction of the attention bestowed this week on the cardinals gathered in the Vatican to choose a new pope. Since the Doha round of multilateral trade talks collapsed in 2008, the WTO has struggled to rebuild interest in broad liberalisation. The nine nominees to succeed Pascal Lamy in the WTO’s top job are busily campaigning for support in its Geneva headquarters and in member countries. The wider world isn’t much interested.... Read more »

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