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Is there a dominance of liberal environmentalism in international organizations? - The case of the WTO environmental agenda's development

Hörnlein, Tobias LU (2013) STVK02 20131
Human Rights Studies
Department of Political Science
Abstract
Considering the growing importance of environmental issues on the international political scene, the question arises as to how these issues are incorporated into the agenda and procedures of international organizations (IOs) and institutions. The World Trade Organization (WTO) - one of the largest IOs – has to handle a strong mandatory connection to global trade as well as an increasing environmental workload, which in turn, displays the general environment-trade conflict. Based on the theory of environmental liberalism and the concept of legalization, five WTO dispute cases are analyzed to discover the change in the WTO's environmental agenda and the wider implications of this change. This study finds that there is a propensity towards... (More)
Considering the growing importance of environmental issues on the international political scene, the question arises as to how these issues are incorporated into the agenda and procedures of international organizations (IOs) and institutions. The World Trade Organization (WTO) - one of the largest IOs – has to handle a strong mandatory connection to global trade as well as an increasing environmental workload, which in turn, displays the general environment-trade conflict. Based on the theory of environmental liberalism and the concept of legalization, five WTO dispute cases are analyzed to discover the change in the WTO's environmental agenda and the wider implications of this change. This study finds that there is a propensity towards less precise legal statements as well as a mounting number and significance of pro-environment outcomes. Yet, the fragmentation of international law (epitomizing institutional complexity) and the unresolved WTO-internal discordance amid trade and health/environment directives, display an inestimable development in progress upon which no final conclusion can yet be prepared. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Hörnlein, Tobias LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK02 20131
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
WTO, legalization, institutionalism, liberal environmentalism, soft law
language
English
id
3787641
date added to LUP
2013-07-01 12:56:02
date last changed
2014-09-04 08:27:35
@misc{3787641,
  abstract     = {{Considering the growing importance of environmental issues on the international political scene, the question arises as to how these issues are incorporated into the agenda and procedures of international organizations (IOs) and institutions. The World Trade Organization (WTO) - one of the largest IOs – has to handle a strong mandatory connection to global trade as well as an increasing environmental workload, which in turn, displays the general environment-trade conflict. Based on the theory of environmental liberalism and the concept of legalization, five WTO dispute cases are analyzed to discover the change in the WTO's environmental agenda and the wider implications of this change. This study finds that there is a propensity towards less precise legal statements as well as a mounting number and significance of pro-environment outcomes. Yet, the fragmentation of international law (epitomizing institutional complexity) and the unresolved WTO-internal discordance amid trade and health/environment directives, display an inestimable development in progress upon which no final conclusion can yet be prepared.}},
  author       = {{Hörnlein, Tobias}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Is there a dominance of liberal environmentalism in international organizations? - The case of the WTO environmental agenda's development}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}