US environmentalists oppose GATT

US environmentalists oppose GATT

WASHINGTON, D.C. — US environmental groups have announced their opposition the Uruguay Round Agreement of GATT because it lacks measures to protect the environment and promotes policies that will contribute to global environmental deterioration.

Unlike the NAFTA debate, where the administration solicited and won support for the agreement from some environmental groups, the environmental community is united in its criticism of the GATT.

"The environmental costs of the GATT are clear", said Jane Perkins, president of Friends of the Earth. "The policies it promotes will lead to increased consumption and further degradation of natural resources. It will allow corporations to operate around the world without any environmental or social obligations."

Among some of the major concerns in the agreement cited by Friends of the Earth are:

• the lack of public participation, environmental expertise and accountability in the new World Trade Organisation;
  

• the threat to domestic and international obligations to meet strong environmental standards;
  

• the lessening of requirements for transnational corporations to abide by environmental or worker standards;
  

• the threat to small farmers around the world that tend the land in a sustainable manner;
  

• the disregard for the protection and conservation of natural resources;
  

Congress still needs to vote on GATT. Friends of the Earth is urging it to delay the vote until basic changes are made.

"Congress should not pass this GATT until real environmental safeguards are included", said Perkins.

From GLW issue 140