Public Participation in the Environmental Undertaking in the Trans Pacific Partnership a Listening Approach.

Authors : Rebecca Laforgia

Pages : 145-154

Doi:10.17275/per.15.spi.1.10

View : 21 | Download : 41

Publication Date : 2015-11-30

Article Type : Research

Abstract :There are few more urgent topics than public participation within international free trade agreements (FTAs).  The problem of public participation in international trade has been identified in the literature as a core democratic issue facing trade governance in the 21st century.  For it has been acknowledged that free trade agreements have within them the means to create for international society inequality or equality, to create innovation or monopolization, food sustainability and security, or to have large agriculture investments devoid of connections to the land or society. Public Participation is essential to promote the best version of FTAs in which humanised ethical development of FTAs occurs, rather than to allow FTAs to become constraining and unequal legal structures. This article draws on the pre-existing literature from international law and listening scholarship and also evidence established through a participatory action process undertaken by this author in the area of an FTA. The article melds these pre-existing ideas. Through this article it is envisaged that the public is introduced to one core point, silence in the ongoing operation and functioning of a FTA is a breach of the State’s obligation to the public. The public can expect, both legally under the FTA and as a political participatory listening subject, to have on-going narratives about the working of FTAs. The case study used is the environmental chapter, in the TPP, which is currently under negotiation, to demonstrate that international society should expect to listen to narratives around the reconciliation of trade and the environment.
Keywords : Trans -Pacific Partnership, Public Participation, Environment, Listening, Trade, Narratives, Silence