The trade and environment nexus: proposing a broad universal definition of environmental services

Scholars and policymakers are increasingly reflecting on the capacity of international trade to contribute to the pursuance of environmental objectives. In this vein, this article focuses on the role of environmental services. Traditionally narrowly understood as end-of-pipe services, there is growing consensus that a broader range of services should be regarded as environmentally related. Accordingly, this article considers various previous attempts to define and classify environmental services, critically examining the suggestions and the underlying reasons why little to no practical progress has been made to date on this issue. Aiming to make tangible progress in this regard, a broad universal definition of the term environmental services and accompanying classification mechanism will be proposed herein. The suggested definition seeks to strike a balance between formality and flexibility, thereby striving to provide a definition that is suitable both for the purposes of analysis as well as making legal commitments on liberalization of such services.