Kanami ISHIBASHI

Associate Professor, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

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In 2018, the CPTTP was enacted in the Pacific Rim as more than a typical economic partnership agreement aimed at eliminating tariffs but encompassing a number of important elements, including environmental protection. The CPTTP seems to bring great hope for environmental protection in the region, as there has been no established international organization to handle environmental protection in the region. However, concerns have been expressed as early as this year. For example, environmental NGOs in the United Kingdom, which is expected to formally join the CPTTP by the end of this year, 2023, have expressed the following concerns;

(i) Defending investors who challenge climate and environmental policies through the Investor-State Dispute Settlement Mechanism (ISDS), which could ultimately limit the UK’s ability to achieve its environmental goals;

(ii) The CPTTP includes a chapter on “technical barriers to trade,” which may prevent governments from introducing new environmentally friendly regulations, labels and standards;

(iii) The rules that the CPTTP establishes for government procurement are limited and will not allow for policies that support the development of local industries or methods to mandate “green purchasing” in government contracts, which are often used to build local capacity to generate renewable energy;

(iv) The UK could also be required to eliminate or reduce tariffs on palm oil, which could lead to increased production and imports of such products, resulting in greater deforestation in palm oil exporting countries such as Malaysia;

(v) The provisions of the CPTPP more closely mirror the U.S. approach to precautionary measures, making it more difficult to regulate to reduce potential harm, resulting in lower standards of environmental protection.

(vi) Joining the CPTPP could increase pressure to weaken food and animal welfare standards in the United Kingdom, which are currently among the highest in the world (allowing for the use of growth hormones and far more use of pesticides in food production).

　However, historically, for example, ISDS is known to have contributed to environmental protection. Regarding the adoption of the U.S. approach to the precautionary principle, some believe that the U.S. approach may rather be regarded as a pragmatic approach. In this paper, the author attempts to analyze to what extent these concerns are realistic, and if so, what improvements are needed, through comparisons with international instruments on the environment and trade.