REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS: TOOL TO PROMOTE CLIMATE – SMART AND SUSTAINABLE TRADE

Balancing economic prosperity with environmental sustainability is crucial in today’s global landscape. As climate change poses urgent challenges, economic development remains a priority, particularly in disadvantaged regions. This paper examines the rise of environmental and climate-related provisions in trade agreements, focusing on the Asia-Pacific and Western Balkans regions. Historically, trade agreements had minimal environmental focus, but recent trends show a surge in such provisions, reflecting a growing recognition of environmental challenges. The Asia-Pacific region, heavily impacted by climate change, increasingly incorporates environmental clauses in Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs), as seen in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Similarly, amid European Union integration, the Western Balkans embed environmental clauses in trade pacts like Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA-2006), influenced by EU accession aspirations. The paper examines the emergence of environmental and climate-smart provisions in free trade agreements, before focusing on regional trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific Region and the Western Balkans. In addition, a qualitative analysis using NVivo 14 software is conducted, employing text search and word frequency analyses, to assess regional trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific and Western Balkan countries. The results show varying levels of commitment to environmental standards across the examined agreements, with the Asia-Pacific countries generally showing greater integration of climate considerations compared to the Western Balkans. Going forward, broader cooperation is essential for fostering sustainable trade practices globally.