Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The following sections summarize the state of play in several sectors. We start with the
WTO's environmental service category, followed by renewable energy as an example of
other services that have an environmental impact.
Pollution abatement
The 'win' scenario for pollution and noise abatement predicts that expanded trade in ser-
vices will support job creation in other sectors where the pollution is being abated.
Pollution services mitigate the adverse impact of development. The market for pollution
abatement is driven by government regulation (International Trade Commission, 2005a).
Pollution and noise abatement are non-traditional sectors in which private industries
serve other private industries. Unlike public services, commitments in this subsector have
not sparked a debate about privatization, job loss or higher rates. The US International
Trade Commission reports few trade barriers to pollution control services in either devel-
oped or developing countries (International Trade Commission, 2005a). In such a new
market, the purpose of GATS commitments is not to promote deregulation or privatiza-
tion; it is to bind the existing level of regulation and constrain future regulation.
The USA is the leader in pollution control, followed by Europe and Japan. The largest
export market is China, which already accounts for 15 percent of global demand (USITC,
2005). China limits its commitment on Market Access to allow for joint venture require-
ments (China, 2002).
In this and the other subsectors under Environmental Services, the USA stops short of
a full commitment. The US schedule of commitments rede
nes each subsector with a nar-
rower list of services where the USA has an export advantage:
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US commitments are limited to the following activities: implementation and installation of new
or existing systems for environmental cleanup, remediation, prevention and monitoring; imple-
mentation of environmental quality control and pollution reduction services; maintenance and
repair of environment-related systems and facilities not already covered by the US commitments
on maintenance and repair of equipment; on-site environmental investigation, evaluation, mon-
itoring; sample collection services; training on site or at the facility; consulting related to these
areas.
The list avoids committing an entire subsector, which could imply a commitment to pri-
vatize public utilities. Privatization is what heated up the debate over traditional utility
services, especially water and wastewater.
Water and wastewater
The world's largest private water companies are based in Europe: Suez and Veolia, both
French, control two-thirds of global private operations (Thomas and Hall, 2006). In 1999,
the European Commission (EC) proposed adding water as a subsector of GATS com-
mitments under Environmental Services. Speci
cally, the EC proposed changing the orig-
inal sector called 'Sewerage' to 'Water for human use and wastewater management' (EC,
1999; Joy and Hardsta
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, 2003).
The EC, the OECD and the WTO promoted water services as a 'win' strategy. Water
treatment is capital intensive. Countries that need water to develop do not have the
capital, and Europe's global companies o
ff
nancing and tech-
nology. The win scenario is that these companies will invest in treatment plants, take a
ff
er economies of scale in
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