Conflicts of the SCM Agreement with LDCs Interests over Renewable Energy Incentives
| Author | Zaker Ahmad |
| DOI | 10.1177/0015732515572059 |
| Published date | 01 May 2015 |
| Date | 01 May 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Conflicts of the SCM
Agreement with LDCs
Interests over Renewable
Energy Incentives:
Proposals for Reform
Zaker Ahmad1
Abstract
This article argues that climate change effects have sharpened the least devel-
oped countries’ (LDCs) need to move towards a green economy. As respective
markets tend to grow, the LDCs would benefit if the production of and research
in renewable energy (RE) especially wind and solar energy equipments and tech-
nologies are subsidized globally. Despite the existence of the policy room in
other related international regulatory framework, the Subsidies Agreement of
the World Trade Organization makes incentivizing RE industries significantly
difficult, if not impossible. It has been recommended that law reform, by way of
incorporating special carve-outs in the Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
Agreement, is the path that would assist LDCs in their smoother transition to a
green economy.
JEL: F1, O1, O2
Keywords
LDC, green energy, energy subsidies, SCM, WTO
Introduction
The least developed countries (LDCs)1 is a cluster comprising of the poorest
countries of the world. As the name signifies, these countries are at the pit of the
overall development basket—marked by lack of good governance, corruption and
political instability. These factors mar their economic development efforts due to
Article
Foreign Trade Review
50(2) 118–134
©2015 Indian Institute of
Foreign Trade
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0015732515572059
http://ftr.sagepub.com
Corresponding author:
Zaker Ahmad, Lecturer, Department of Law, University of Chittagong, Hathazari, Chittagong 4331,
Bangladesh.
E-mail: zakerahmad@gmail.com
1 Lecturer, Department of Law, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Ahmad 119
the resultant misallocation of budgetary resources and diversion of foreign direct
investments. On top of it, LDCs are often at the receiving end of diverse global
environmental degradation impacts, climate change being one of them.
The goal of the present article is to explore the need to shift towards renewable
energy (RE)-based power generation in LDCs. It raises the question: Whether the
RE incentive schemes pursued by different non-LDCs are helpful to the LDCs in
any way? While doing so, it attempts to discover as to how the two important arms
of the international legal structure, that is, international laws regarding environ-
ment and sustainable development, and the World Trade Organization (WTO)
laws, especially the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM
agreement), have identified and dealt with this issue. Some broad recommenda-
tions are made in the end that may help foster further legal harmony and assist
LDCs’ faster transition to a green economy.
Climate Vulnerability and Need for Green Energy
Solutions in LDC
RE-based power generation is a fast-expanding phenomenon globally. Even in the
LDCs, the need to turn green is acutely felt. Following sections outline the rele-
vance of LDCs shift towards green energy and the related recent international
developments.
LDCs Energy Scenario
Entrenched energy crisis in LDC economies itself is a good enough reason to
move towards RE. Ensuring the adequate availability of energy and providing
access thereof remains one of the biggest challenges to the LDCs path towards
development. According to the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific (ESCAP), the total primary energy supply of the LDCs in Asia and
Pacific remains at less than 1 per cent of the total supply of the region (ESCAP,
pp. 185–86). Almost none of these countries are self-sufficient regarding energy.
Moreover, traditional energy sources, such as fuel wood, animal and vegetable
wastes, remain most important energy sources for these countries (Ibid.,
188–91).
Climate change vulnerability of the LDCs also necessitates their green growth.
The impact of climate change upon the LDCs is well recorded. In the last decade,
the number of people affected by extreme weather events (e.g., drought, flood,
temperature extremes, etc.) in LDCs has almost doubled, compared to the 1970s
(UNCTAD, 2010). LDCs also bear the burden of the highest percentage (34 per
cent) of global human deaths in relation to diseases sensitive to climate change
(e.g., malaria) (DARA, 2010: 16). Loss of annual agriculture output due to the
climate-change-induced disruption of the cropping pattern would also hurt LDCs
the most. Being categorically poor, these countries are unable to undertake adaptive
activity to mitigate climate change, that is, strong economic performance, good
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeUnlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations
Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations
Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations
Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations
Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations
