World Trade Organization

This action guide is the culmination of a four-year IUCN project on the convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the international trade regime. The point of departure for the project was the assumption that both the CBD and the World Trade Organization (WTO) represent regimes whose successful implementation is necessary in order to achieve sustainable development.

In the 1990s, the international community placed both biodiversity protection and trade liberalisation high on its agenda, resulting in the formation of global agreements and institutions, such as the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Distinct in character, they are increasingly linked through the many ways that trade rules affect biodiversity.