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Smith, Fiona --- "Natural resources and global value chains: What role for the WTO?" [2017] ELECD 1050; in Tan, Celine; Faundez, Julio (eds), "Natural Resources and Sustainable Development" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 237

Book Title: Natural Resources and Sustainable Development

Editor(s): Tan, Celine; Faundez, Julio

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783478378

Section: Chapter 12

Section Title: Natural resources and global value chains: What role for the WTO?

Author(s): Smith, Fiona

Number of pages: 20

Abstract/Description:

Natural resources are critical to global value chains as minerals, good climate and fertile soil are commonly required for the beginning of the chain, with the consequence that any interruption in their supply threatens the chain’s continued integrity. Trade in such resources provides a valuable source of income for resource-rich states. Yet, exploitation of natural resources can result in their exhaustion and biodiversity loss, while their extraction can lead to environmental damage and human rights abuses, with the result that any positive contribution to sustainable development for resource-rich states is quickly undermined. Effective regulation is critical to maximize benefits and minimize potential harm. The WTO’s rules seem ideally suited to allow the state to impose measures that militate against the over-exploitation of the resource by corporations, whilst simultaneously ensuring that regulation does not unnecessarily impede the flow of resources within the value chain. However, this chapter will show that applying the WTO’s rules to natural resource use in global value chains presents both substantive and normative challenges.