Adaptation Community, Climate Change, Economy
Trans-Pacific Partnership Will Hurt Environment
November 3, 2015
Shark fins, which are overharvested for soup, dry on the roof of a factory in Hong Kong.
Source: Antony Dickson, AFP/Getty, National Geographic
From National Geographic:
“The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership is a huge pact that would govern about 40 percent of the world’s gross domestic product and one-third of world trade, said Jake Schmidt, international climate policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
The agreement involves a sprawling cast of countries: Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.
The NRDC joined with the Sierra Club and WWF in criticizing the leaked draft of the environment chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange said proved the chapter was “a toothless public relations exercise with no enforcement mechanism.””
These groups have the following concerns about the TPP:
- It lacks basic environmental protections
- It does not regulate against overfishing
- It does not take a strong enough stance against illegal wildlife products
- It does not go far enough in preventing illegal logging
To read more on this story, click here.
Many Canadian groups are also expressing concern over environmental, as well as other, impacts of the TPP. The Council of Canadians provides an overview of these concerns here.