Citizen Submissions: A Vital Tool to Enhance Environmental Accountability in Trade Agreements?
![Person with laptop Person with laptop](/sites/default/files/styles/max_325x325/public/images/blog/woman-laptop.jpg?itok=VK21x3dU)
Despite the existing tension between trade pacts and global environmental rule of law, environmental side agreements (ESAs) of bilateral and multilateral trade pacts have created a unique mechanism for environmental enforcement: citizen submissions. These submissions provide a mechanism for ordinary citizens to formally and publicly bring attention to potential environmental harms in their communities, including the non-enforcement of environmental laws.