Tom's Turn: Notes from our Senior Editor

LIVE! From WTO in Mexico!

September 15, 2003

Parody abounds in Cancun WTO protests

Photo by Alyssa Johl

Just spent a hectic and steamy week in Cancun, Mexico, at the fifth ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization. I was there to write daily dispatches for Earthjustice, Grist Magazine, and the Environmental News Network. Marcello Mollo and Alyssa Johl of the Earthjustice International Program were there as well, Marcello to meet colleagues and participate in seminars and panel discussions, Alyssa to do that and to take pictures to accompany my dispatches.

Why were we there?, one might ask. The environment is seldom a topic of formal discussion at these meetings -- and that's why we were there, that's the problem. Since the WTO meeting in Seattle, Earthjustice has pushed and pushed some more to have the world wake up to the fact that nearly every decision the WTO makes has profound implications for the earth -- and, so far, most of those decisions have been deeply flawed.

Take for example foreign investment. The WTO was considering opening formal negotiations to ease restrictions on investment. And where's the environmental angle? Well, look at what has happened with the North American Free Trade Agreement, a likely model for a new investment provision in the WTO. Under NAFTA, any law or regulation that threatens a foreign investor's ability to make a profit is at risk. For example, the Canadian company Methanex has sued the United States for a billion dollars, arguing that California's decision to phase out the gasoline additive MTBE to protect groundwater and public health will cost the company that much in lost profits. Similarly, another Canadian company, this one called Glamis, owns mining claims in the California desert. It is threatening suit because of a recent California law that would require restoring the site after mining has ended; the company says it can't make money if that law is enforced. Both are pending and Earthjustice is participating. We'd rather not see that system imposed on the whole world.

As you have no doubt read by now, the WTO collapsed in a shambles yesterday afternoon (I'm writing this from Cancun on Monday, September 15). Whether this is the beginning of the end for the institution -- many profoundly hope so, but many hope it can be reformed -- remains to be seen. Certainly the vast majority of environmental groups represented here, plus groups representing labor, women's rights, and others, were overjoyed at the collapse, for a variety of reasons. "No deal is better than a bad deal," was the summation by the group Action Aid, and most agreed. For myself and many others, it was inspiring to see a large block of developing countries -- at least 90, including China, Brazil, and India -- stand up to pressure from the US and the European Union and refuse to cave in. There's a vast amount of work to do, especially on the environmental front, but this seems to be the best outcome possible for this particular meeting and a new opening, a possible turning point in this long struggle.

Tom Turner, Senior Editor
yourturn@earthjustice.org