Trading off climate: how conventional trade interests shape climate discussions at PTA committees

Debates over the role of trade policy in addressing climate change have gained steam inrecent years. One proposed mechanism that might lead to improved climate outcomesruns through preferential trade agreements (PTAs) and their committees, which may providea forum for ambitious actors to promote higher standards. So far, we know littleabout whether and when such promotion occurs at PTA committees. The paper arguesthat at the PTA implementation stage, where public scrutiny has largely subsided andclimate-minded actors are in a weakened position, conventional trade interests, ratherthan genuine climate concerns, shape discussions of climate issues between the parties.An analysis of minutes from committee meetings under 19 European Union PTAs, supportedby interview evidence, shows that the parties discuss climate issues routinely andextensively, but that especially with its major trade partners, the EU discusses climateissues primarily in connection to, and prioritizes, trade interests, notably the advancementand safeguarding of market access for EU companies. Only with smaller trade partners isclimate more often discussed ‘in its own right’. Opening the black box of PTA committees,the paper speaks to debates about issue linkages and tensions between conventionaltrade and other interests in trade agreements.