WikiLeaks on Jan. 15 for the second in several months released secret documents on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks, this time concerning the environment.
Disclosed were the draft text for the entire Environment Chapter and the corresponding Chairs’ Report. The text dates from the Chief Negotiators’ summit in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Nov. 12-24, 2013.
“The Environment Chapter covers what the Parties propose to be their positions on: environmental issues, including climate change, biodiversity and fishing stocks; and trade and investment in ‘environmental’ goods and services,” WikiLeaks summarized. “It also outlines how to resolve environmental disputes arising out of the treaty’s subsequent implementation. The draft Consolidated Text was prepared by the Chairs of the Environment Working Group, at the request of TPP Ministers at the Brunei round of the negotiations.”
Among other things, the repots indicated deep division on the issue of enforcing the treaty.
Many environmental groups reacted negatively to the proposed treaty provisions, according to news reports. Three US groups issued a detailed analysis.
The secrecy of the talks has been the subject of extensive debate. (See FreedomInfo.org special report.)
Filed under: IFTI Watch