Question

Is free trade necessarily at odds with tackling climate change?

Answer 1

Free trade is not necessarily at odds with tackling climate change as advancement in technology could help increase scope of green energy used for transportation. Greater quantity of free trade does not necessarily mean that there will be greater quantity of pollution in the economy. It could mean that capital is saved by investing in lower costs of production wherein more money is saved which is used for advancement in technology helping to tackle climate change.

For example if countries increasingly follow protectionist measures, people consume products which are produced locally, but those products use a lot of natural resources which prove harmful for the environment. Thus for example tomato is produced locally instead of being imported. As not all types of soil are beneficial for growing tomatoes, costs of production increase such as use of pesticides which harms the environment. However, instead because of free trade, if the same crop was imported from a country which has efficient forms of production and the soil is suitable to grow the produce, it benefits the environment as the crop is grown naturally. This leads to saving pollution levels and decline in expenditure as imported agricultural produce is cheaper. Thus ultimately money is allocated for efficient production methods which leads to limited scope of climate change as resources get allocated efficiently.

Thus there are gains with respect to free trade in tackling climate change, if done in the right way.