Renewable Energy and the WTO: The Limits of Government Intervention

Abstract

The paper examines the role of government intervention in designing and supporting renewable energy programs and the compatibility of such interventions with various covered agreements of the WTO. The WTO treaty does not provide a special framework for renewable energy and a number of such programs are susceptible to WTO challenges and domestic trade contingency measures. Of particular interest to developing countries such as India will be the availability of necessary policy space in fostering various renewable energy programs. This paper discusses the current treaty provisions of the WTO, especially the SCM Agreement and the TRIMs Agreement and examines as to what policy space is available to various WTO Members across varying levels of development. In short, the paper seeks to examine the limits of WTO consistent government intervention in the field of renewable energy.