Trade Deals and Planetary Survival

Nick Dearden thinks that Britain's agreement with Australia could stop the UK dealing with the climate crisis (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/15/government-obsession-trade-deals-australia-disaster-environment). This isn't just a matter of distance (which naturally involves more transport emissions). It's not even down to reductions in food standards (where cheaper competition might well force small, but sustainable, UK farms to cease operations). Dearden believes it's in the very nature of trade deals. He notes that trade deals, unlike environmental protections, are 'highly enforceable'. Governments are prevented by such deals from intervening in any area of the economy, where their actions might be regarded as 'discriminatory' by foreign multinationals. Trade deals bring into play highly secretive 'corporate courts'. Here, multinationals can sue governments over any law or regulation, they can claim to be 'unfair'. Large multinationals, by definition, have the resources, to activate teams of expensive lawyers. Dearden, for example, notes the Dutch government is being sued by two energy multinationals, over its decision to phase out coal power. Other governments have been sued for putting in place (on the basis of earth tremors), mortoria on 'fracking'. The Canadian government was even ruled to have violated an investor's rights, by carrying out a 'mandatory' Environmental Impact Assessment on a project. Trade deals seem to trade away any government ability to stick to environmental promises made to their electorates. So much for promises to 'build back better' and to favour biodiversity.