Dr Maria Anna Corvaglia | Is Intra-African Trade Regionalism a Driver for Sustainable Development? скачать в хорошем качестве

Dr Maria Anna Corvaglia | Is Intra-African Trade Regionalism a Driver for Sustainable Development?

A mapping exercise to see if trade within African countries can make environmental policies work better. Professor of Climate, Agriculture and Food, University of Leeds, Stephen Whitefield, Chairs the presentation by Dr Maria Anna Corvaglia, Lecturer in Commercial Law, University of Leeds, who explains that African countries face serious problems caused by climate change and environmental damage. However, increased trade between African countries could help address some of these issues. This project looks into how trade within Africa countries—called intra-African trade—can serve as a new way to make environmental policies work better. It takes a closer look at trade agreements signed between African countries, known as Regional Economic Communities (RECs). These agreements not only help promote trade among African nations but also support sustainable growth in key parts of their economies. While most studies focus on how global actors like the US, European Union, and China influence Africa’s trade and environmental rules from outside the continent - called extra-African trade - this research shifts the focus to how African countries themselves are developing their own regional trade agreements to manage their environmental priorities. Using a comparative legal analysis, the study examines the regulatory design of environmental commitments in Intra-Africa regional trade agreements and RECs. It explores how they balance environmental needs with trade obligations, how enforceable these rules are, and which environmental areas they aim to protect. It challenges the prevailing assumption that environmental protection is primarily a regulatory objective imposed by Western countries in extra-African trade agreements. Instead, the research highlights the specific characteristics of the environmental provisions in African regionalism. It reveals distinct environmental priorities – such as waste management and sustainable agriculture - and a marked preference for the adoption of soft law and flexible trade instruments.