Navigating Environmental Implications of Preferential Trading: An Eco-Marxist Analysis of European Union GSP Plus to Pakistan

In the purview of the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus–EU preferential trading scheme—the significance of non-trade goals such as environmental concerns are inherently linked with promoting sustainable development in lower-middle income countries. The research investigates the impact of the European Union Generalized Scheme of Preferences on the ecological conditions of Pakistan from two avenues: environmental conditionality and trade liberalization. The multi-pronged analysis through the theoretical prism of ecological Marxism provides a basis to think in terms of ecological risks associated with EU preferential trading with Pakistan. Based on the semi-structured interviews, the preliminary findings illustrate that with growing exports from Pakistan to European markets as a part of tariff concessions of preferential trading, the environmental cost of industrial production is immense. With the increase in the scale of production because of enhanced trade, there is a corresponding increase in carbon-intensive production and pollution in textile, apparel, garment, and leather industries of Pakistan, undermining the essence of GSP Plus environmental conditionality. The study also indicate that environmental conditions to comply with eight environmental conventions under GSP plus weigh down Pakistan due to a lack of financial capacity and technical expertise. The research findings contribute to guiding various public and private stakeholders to analyse wider policy debates in the context of GSP trading with Pakistan and its environmental repercussions.