Washington, D.C. — Responding to today’s meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body over China’s trade dispute against India’s Solar Module Programne, Arthur Stamoulis, executive director of the Trade Justice Education Fund, issued the following statement:
“Ongoing trade attacks against countries’ solar programs show just how broken and out-of-touch global trade rules are in the face of the growing climate crisis. This latest dispute is yet another example of why over 150 environmental organizations have been calling for a ‘Climate Peace Clause’ moratorium on the use of outdated trade rules to attack countries’ clean energy transition initiatives.
“During the Biden administration, the U.S. and India wisely dropped their trade attacks against each other’s solar programs. While an important step forward, it didn’t solve the underlying problem of ongoing trade rule impediments to climate progress. Ongoing WTO disputes like today’s show how trade rules can contribute to the slowing, weakening and derailing of clean energy transition programs — at a time when such programs desperately need to be accelerated.