The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is an agreement ... The controversial investor-state dispute s
E G N A H C CLIMATE & TTIP WHAT’S AT STAKE? The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is an agreement currently being negotiated between the EU and the US. It aims to reduce barriers to trade between the two blocs. However, as tariffs are already low or non-existent in transatlantic trade, the focus has turned to removing non-tariff-barriers (NTBs) to trade, which in plain-English relates to the laws and regulations that differ in both regions that may be impeding trade. However, many of these NTBs relate to our food, health and environmental standards and legislation, and other democratically made policy decisions. Progressive climate regulations could face being cut, or undermined, under TTIP in a number of ways. →1 ) THE ENERGY CHAPTER The EU wants the US to agree the inclusion of an ELL “TTIP MAY WMAGE Energy Chapter, which DO MORE DAOD would facilitate the THAN GO HE exportation of “coal, crude T IN TACKLINGISIS” oil, oil products, natural R CLIMATE C gas, whether liquefied or not, and electrical energy” from the US to Europe. Fracked US shale gas and tar-sands oil from Canada via the US would be included in this mix. The US has banned the export of crude oil since the 1970s, a ban that the EU is trying to see lifted, but would require a majority in Congress to do so. On gas exports, the US Gas Act foresees automatic exports once free trade deals are signed with their partners.
→ 2) ENDING STATE SUPPORT FOR RENEWABLES TTIP may prohibit state or national support for renewable energy programs through the elimination of ‘local content requirements’, otherwise known as buy-local rules, further undermining efforts to transition to a low carbon economy. → 3) SUING GOVERNMENTS FOR REGULATING The controversial investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) has already been used to attack moratoriums on fracking in Canada over environmental concerns, and to undermine clean water acts in Germany. The threat of being sued for billions could create a chilling effect on progressive policy making for the climate. → 4) INCREASED EMISSIONS Increased transatlantic trade will not reduce emissions. While some predictions indicate a small increase, when additional elements are taken into account, such as increased automobile sales for example, and a comprehensive energy chapter, the increase could be far greater. According to a report by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung: ‘Greater [EU-US trade] cooperation is not predicted to result in reduced GHG emissions. On the contrary, the most ambitious TTIP scenario predicts an increase of 11.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions: 3.9 million tonnes in the US, 3.6 million tonnes in the EU and 4.3 million tonnes in China due to carbon leakage attributable to its “less environment-friendly product techniques”’. The most recent IPCC report on climate change tells us we ‘need to use all available tools and measures to meet the challenge of climate change‘. TTIP may well do more damage than good in tackling the climate crisis.
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WHAT THE GREENS STAND FOR The Greens in the European Parliament are fundamentally against TTIP, for the many different reasons summarised here. We know that 93% of the preparatory meetings the EU Commission has held on TTIP have been with corporate lobby groups, dooming the negotiations from the start. Despite what the Commission would have us believe, we see no chance of standards being raised in TTIP, but many avenues for big
OUR VISION
business to further frustrate, undermine, and derail policy-goals to aim at improving the climate situation.
The Greens fight for a TTIP that reduces the EU/US dependence on fossil fuels and that put climate and environmental issues at the heart of the agreement.
CITIZENS’ BENEFITS FROM FURTHER ACTION
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A good TTIP would ensure that both regions explicitly reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, not lock us into decades of intensified usage. It would tilt the balance of power back towards ordinary citizens, rather than creating a private-justice system exclusive to foreign investors, and it would put climate and environmental issues at the heart of the agreement. As it stands, this deal does none of those things.
On May 6th 2015, one of the chief TTIP negotiators commented on their lobbying effort on US crude oil bans: “we‘re very carefully trying to avoid any kind of public comments on this, because I think we feel that it‘s more propitious to try and negotiate this with them outside the public eye.” This admission is an indication of how political this debate is. Citizens could gain a lot by drawing the public‘s attention to the plans in TTIP that will actively make it harder for us to reach realistic climate goals.
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