An article in China View today demonstrates the very real danger of rising green protectionism. Proposals to introduce carbon taxes and impose tariffs upon imports from developing countries, which do not cap their carbon emissions, will hurt developing countries trying to trade their way out of poverty.

Peter Draper and Ivan Mbirimi remind us in this excellent column in the Business Day (South Africa) that summitteers in Copenhagen must not get carried away with their good intentions.  There is a very real risk that sub-Saharan Africa's potentially rich future could be traded away in any agreement that restricts trade in energy intensive goods, which these experts predict could affect virtually everything that Africans produce and trade with the rest of the world.  Never mind the impact of weather related events in 2050; shutting down this trade under the auspices of protecting the environment will lead to devastating consequences RIGHT NOW.

Sign the anti-green protectionism petition and voice your disapproval at the prospect of a Copenhagen Agreement that restricts trade and prevents Africans - or anyone else - from trading their way out of poverty and improving the environment.

Upon the closure of this year's World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial in Geneva, Alec van Gelder, trade policy analyst at International Policy Network and coordinator of the Freedom to Trade Coalition, offered the following comment:

"Over the past eight years, the World Trade Organization has failed to cobble together agreement on the Doha Round and today Member States come away empty handed from the least ambitious Ministerial in WTO history. This comes hot on the heels of yet another G20 meeting where Members committed themselves not to introduce protectionist policies that would aggravate the global economic downturn, in spite of the fact that similar pledges have been made—and broken—in the past year.   If grandiose international meetings fail to promote the right solutions for economic recovery and global growth, and break their promises whenever they come to agreement, what then is the point of such meetings at all?”

Amidst the bad news on trade this week, time for a good news story!  The European Union has finally been forced to lower--but not drop--the absurd tariffs on efficient producers that have prevented consumers in Europe from purchasing bananas harvested in Latin America that are far cheaper than those currently entering the EU market duty-free.  The EU is now finally allowing consumers to decide what bananas they prefer and where they want them to come from.  Sort of.