The paper investigates the relationship between carbon emissions, environmental provisions in Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and Global Value Chains (GVCs) using a panel data gravity model for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region over the period 1990-2015. We find that RTAs have a positive effect on carbon emissions. However, good institutional quality in MENA region decreases carbon footprint. Participation of MENA countries in GVCs rises environmental degradation in upstream Low-Tech Manufacturing (LTM) sectors and downstream High-Tech Manufacturing (HTM) and Primary sectors.

We examine the financial risk management of the climate crisis from three perspectives. First, we assess the serious risks from climate change. The ecological and financial consequences of climate change depend on the future path of emissions, as well as the specific circumstances of specific countries and populations. Second, we assess the previous success of market solutions through pricing sulfur and carbon dioxide emissions.

This chapter highlights the linkages between the climate crisis and trade negotiations in a dystopic post-WTO world. It argues that the window of opportunity to achieve an effective multilateral trade regime has closed and will be sealed shut by accelerating climate change. The post-WTO regime is a megaregional regime, and it will exclude those countries that do not get on board before the destabilizing effects of the climate crisis make their inclusion impossible to achieve. Geopolitical shifts destabilized the WTO regime and have led to its collapse.

In this book review, Bradly Condon, WTO Chair in Mexico, finds that Emissions Trading Schemes under International Economic Law is a well-written and timely book, which addresses many important issues regarding the application of the international economic law regime to the climate regime. It is a welcome contribution to the literature on climate change and international economic law.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries have recently developed renewable energy (RE) markets. However, their rate of investment in renewable energy remains small compared to other regions in the world despite their relatively abundant endowments, particularly in wind and solar. While the literature identifies some barriers to investment in renewable energy, we assume that the investment of MENA countries could be impeded by specific governance factors. Furthermore, we consider recent literature showing that trade openness reduces the negative effects of weak governance.