Sustainable Development in the 2001 WTO Doha Round Debates and Beyond

In this chapter, it is argued that in the 2001 Doha Declaration launching the new trade negotiations and in subsequent dispute settlement decisions, the World Trade Organization (WTO) member States and dispute settlement mechanism (DSM) have made small steps to integrate social and environmental considerations into the work of the WTO, but progress is limited. In particular, certain exemptions have been expanded and clarified (more through subsequent disputes than through negotiations), States have agreed on frameworks for negotiations that could both liberalize trade in environmental goods and services and reduce subsidies that encourage over-fishing, and potentially also encourage greater cooperation on trade-related environment and social development challenges. Influential WTO disputes are canvassed, and concerns with regards to process and production methods (PPMs) and related technology transfer opportunities are discussed briefly. It is also demonstrated that these steps, as critiqued in legal scholarship, reveal real limits to the WTO’s progress.