The Antarctic ozone hole was discovered in 1985 by British scientists Joseph Farman, Brian Gardiner, and Johnathan Shanklin of the British Antarctic Survey(Anonymous). According to their study, more ultraviolet rays were passing through the earth’s atmosphere causing temperatures to rise, polar ice caps to melt, and the natural habitats of various types of wildlife to be destroyed. This is just one of the many instances in which the environment is being degraded. In addition, there seems to be growing evidence that humans are the catalyst to this infliction. As a result of these findings, I, Steven Crimi, czar of the environment, would require the World Trade Organization to include environmental sustainability in its mission so that the health and safety is enhanced. Three elements of this reform include the following: 1.) imposing trade sanctions on members who continue to pollute, 2.) require that all members join such environmental improvement initiatives as the Kyoto Treaty, and 3.) imposing a tax on carbon emissions.

By enforcing countries to comply with environmental protection efforts through the threat of trade sanctions, the W.T.O. can promote the health of everyone on this planet. In his book Making Globalization Work, Joseph Stiglitz points out how countries do not currently have recourse in enforcing other countries to stop polluting the environment and pay for their damages (Stiglitz 164). This creates externalities that are not only incidentally detrimental to the health of that nation’s people, but also the health of people in other nations. Also, Stiglitz points out that when the corporations of other countries are not required to pay for the damage they have done to the environment, that they are in effect receiving an implicit subsidy. In addition, because these types of “payments” are not currently covered in W.T.O. rules, countries cannot implement countervailing duties to counter act the subsidies (Stiglitz 177). Through new W.T.O. Rules that lead the imposition of trade sanctions for environmental degradation, the international community can prevent these negative consequences from taking place. Of course, Steven Crimi, head of the multilateral climate change organization, will have to implement such rules.

In Steven Crim’s reform, the W.T.O. would require all of its members to join such environmental improvement plans as the Kyoto treaty so that such efforts do not go in vain and lead to the global community missing out on an opportunity of enhancing the environment. Stiglitz points out that the United States, which emits 25% of the amount of green house gases (Stiglitz 171), has failed to engage in the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, China has resisted as well. The fact that both of these countries have decided not to play ball (as they are the two most pollutant nations) has prevented significant progress from being made in terms of improving the global environment (Stiglitz 171).

Finally, by imposing a tax on carbon emissions, the World Trade Organization can create viable trade policies that promote the environment yet at the same time stimulate economic growth. In addition, the main reason a carbon tax promotes environmental safety is because it indiscriminately requires all nations to reduce their pollution. This would be different from the current system, which requires nations to take distinct measures to reduce their carbon emissions. The fact that each country has a different level of economic activity and different amount of pollution, means that some countries can argue that they are either “too big” to cut their emissions (the United States) and should therefore continue to pollute, or that because their economies are too small (Chile) they cannot afford to cut green house gasses since they are trying to catch up (Stiglitz 184). In addition, carbon taxes can provide the necessary revenue for countries to carry out spending efforts to stimulate their economies as well as reduce the tax levels on other activities that can promote economic growth like saving and investing (Stiglitz 184).

Overall, by reforming the World Trade Organization to the point where environmental protection efforts are central to its mission, I believe that as the environmental czar I would have effectively promoted the health and safety of all living things on this earth by reducing environmental degradation. The earth has provided so much to humanity in terms of having resources to carry out its economic activities. It is time that we give back so that we do not lose this planet to global warming or some other detrimental factor.

Works Cited

Stiglitz, Joseph. Making Globalization Work. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2007.

Welch, Charles. The Ozone Hole. 2010. The Ozone Hole Inc. 12 September 2010