World Trade Organization

Brings back memories

I was working downtown when all this went down — smelled a little tear gas, got escorted out of my building by a gauntlet of fully armored riot police. Looking back, I wish I’d had a better sense of the significance at the time.

Outline for a move to a sustainable agriculture system

The agricultural industry is one of the biggest users of water, energy, and chemicals on the planet. Overall it poses one of the biggest threats to global biodiversity, which is why it deserves significant attention from the environmental community.

But when it comes to defining what is meant by "sustainable agriculture," there is a lot of confusion. Many people think "organic," or "local," or "non-GMO," or even "biodynamic." It will come as little surprise that economists don't think of the issue in this way; they primarily examine the basic conditions for the efficient use of resources in the agricultural sector.

The following outline is the beginning of what a move toward a sustainable agricultural system would entail:

Beware of U.S. trade officials bearing gifts

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab made headlines this week by offering to reduce U.S. farm subsidies. The context was the so-called Doha Round of trade talks — the WTO’s latest, oft-stalled effort to grease the wheels of global trade. Among sustainable-food advocates, there’s a reflexive tendency to cheer whenever farm subsidies go on the chopping […]

Top scientists appeal to WTO

The other day I told you how there's a good chance we could see an end to commercial overfishing subsidies through WTO negotiations. And my organization is not alone in making the case to the World Trade Organization. At least 125 scientists from 27 countries feel the same way and sent a letter to the WTO making it clear that "an ambitious outcome in the ongoing WTO fisheries subsidies negotiations is vital to the future of the world's fisheries."

The scientists who signed the letter are a who's who of ocean fisheries scientists, including Daniel Pauly, Boris Worm, Jeremy B.C. Jackson, Andrew Rosenberg, Carl Safina, Callum Roberts, Larry Crowder, and Wallace "J" Nichols. These leading experts made the stakes clear: "Fisheries subsidies," they note in the letter, "produce such strong economic incentives to overfish that reducing them is one of the most significant actions that can be taken to combat global overfishing." How's that for pressure?

You can see the full letter here (PDF).

A new GMO treaty is about to get tangled up in trade tussles

All but eclipsed by the somber anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety will become international law today with little fanfare. Nonetheless, its entry into force could mark the beginning of a new era in international trade — with potentially sweeping consequences for the environment. Fields of grain […]

Raking up the Rubble

All week I’ve been cringing at the news. Tear gas. Broken windows. Bloody faces. The National Guard called in to defend Seattle against anti-WTO demonstrators. From far away, totally in sympathy with the demonstrators, I’ve been yelling at them, “No, please, get hold of yourselves! Don’t tar our cause with violence!” Cops taking over the […]

A Bad Deal for Dolphins

Grist readers deserve better than the poorly informed coverage of the tuna/dolphin issue in a recent article by Rick Gaffney, which makes false and misleading claims about “dolphin safe” tuna fishing methods. A dolphin in the deep. Earth Island Institute, Defenders of Wildlife, the Humane Society of the United States, and dozens of other organizations […]

Don't buy their official version of Tuesday's events

SEATTLE, Wash. An eerie half-calm, enforced by marching columns of police and troops in full-body armor, settled over downtown Seattle today. Street corners that had been scenes of dramatic confrontation yesterday saw small-scale, unthreatening protests this morning and early afternoon, as demonstrators, trade delegates, journalists, and everyone else in this stunned city got down to […]

Protesters make themselves heard in Seattle

SEATTLE, Wash. The metaphor is irresistible. Between 8 and 10 this morning in downtown Seattle, the protesters owned the streets. Later in the day, they vied with police, back and forth; but as the day began the cops were back inside their perimeters, and the few thousand drumming, singing demonstrators were firmly in control. And […]