In the future all services provided will have an environmental component. But today, the international trading system has only just begun to acknowledge this shift. From the “traditional” definitions of environmental services which focused on things like waste management, today the types of environmental services being provided around the world have multiplied. How these services are being provided is changing too with technological developments and digital trade.

The Professional and Business Services (PBS) sector has been at the forefront of this shift. Many of the services provided by PBS firms are not necessarily new, but PBS firms are evolving and expanding their services to meet the environmental challenges.

How these services are traded internationally, the barriers to their adoption and scale-up are crucial questions that must be addressed by WTO Members over the coming years. The purpose of this panel will be to bring together several WTO initiatives such as the e-commerce negotiations, domestic regulation and ongoing discussions in the Committee on Trade and Environment Special Session.