Publication - 29 August, 2003
The Cancun meeting is the first time that environmental issues are directly on the agenda of a WTO Ministerial conference. There is a deep concern that the WTO mandate to discuss the relationship between trade rules and multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) could lead to a disastrous result. Some countries have in the past tried to subordinate environmental regulations to a corporate free trade agenda, which would destroy a good deal of the progress and commitments made over the past decade on environmental issues.