Emerging Issues in Sustainable Development
International Trade Law and Policy Relating to Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment

Editors: Mitsuo Matsushi-ta, Thomas J. Schoenbaum



A major contribution to the international dialogue on international economic law issues with respect to trade in natural resources and energy

Explains in detail how international trade rules apply to natural resources, energy and climate changed-related products

Discusses how rules of international treaties on trade and investment apply to the new laws and policies related to energy-related trade

This book seeks to answer the questions: how do the rules of international treaties on trade and investment apply to the new laws and policies relating to energy-related trade, and do the rules of the multilateral system contribute to or detract from sustainable development?  An emerging set of new problems in the law of international trade is how to reconcile the rules of the multilateral trading system with shortages of certain natural resources and the necessity to develop renewable energy resources.

The chapters in this book provide a comprehensive analysis of the international trade issues presented by national trade laws and policies with regard to natural resources and energy. This book is about the extent to which we are interpreting existing rules to cover emerging problems and how the rules of the multilateral trading system can be adapted to achieve sustainable development in natural resources and energy.

The book begins with a survey of selected national laws relating to recent restrictions on the export of natural resources, both resources used to produce energy as well as natural resources essential for industrial production. After examining the range of such laws in selected important countries, we turn to the application of the rules of the multilateral trading system to such export restrictions. We discuss the major rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as the natural resources rules in selected regional preferential free trade agreements. While there is not a comprehensive global legal regime on competition law, we believe it is also important to examine how selected national competition laws impact export restrictions on natural resources.

This book will be a major contribution to the international dialogue on international economic law issues with respect to trade in natural resources and energy.

Table of contents (21 chapters)

Front Matter

Law and Policy on Natural Resources in Selected Asian Countries
• Front Matter
• Natural Resources and Energy Regulation in Australia: The Energy White Paper in Context
• Legal System of Natural Resources Protection in China: GATT 20 and China’s Export Limits on Resources
• Law and Policy on Mineral Resources in Mongolia: Seeking Inescapable Stability
• Natural Resources Regime in India: Impact on Trade and Investment

Export Restrictions and WTO Agreements
• Front Matter
• A Note on the China Rare Earths Case
• The World Trade Organization and Export Restrictions
• Reforming WTO Discipline on Export Duties: Sovereignty Over Natural Resources, Economic Development and Environmental Protection

Free Trade Agreements and Natural Resources
• Front Matter
• Free Trade Agreements and Natural Resources
• Comment to Chapter “Free Trade Agreements and Natural Resources”

Competition Law Issues Relating to Exportation of Natural Resources
• Front Matter
• The Iron Ore Production Joint Venture Between Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton: The European Angle of a Multinational Antitrust Review
• Putting Limits on Extra-Territorial Coverage of Competition Laws in the Age of Global Supply Chains: Comparison of the US and Japan

Special Agreements and Energy
• Front Matter
• Special Agreements and Energy: Filling the Gaps
• Energy Charter Treaty: Standing Out Beside the WTO
• Changes in Cycles and Risks of Circumvention? Comments to Chapter “Special Agreements and Energy: Filling the Gaps”

Subsidy Issues in Renewable Energy Trade
• Front Matter
• The Climate-Trade Conundrum: A Critical Analysis of the WTO’s Jurisprudence on Subsidies to Renewable Energy
• Export Restraints of Natural Resources and the SCM Agreement
• Subsidies Issues in Renewable Energy Trade
• Energy Trade and Investment Treaties
• International Energy Trade and Investor-State Arbitration: What Role for Sustainable Development?
• Comment to “International Energy Trade and Investor-State Arbitration”

Environmental Issues: Climate Change and Trade/Investment
• Front Matter
• Climate Change, Trade, and Investment Law: What Difference Would a Real Responsibility to Protect Make?
• Comments to “Climate Change, Trade, and Investment Law. What Difference Would a Real Responsibility to Protect Make?”