Breathing Life into the List: Practical Suggestions for the Negotiators of the Environmental Goods Agreement By Aaron Cosbey 1  Participants in the Environmental Goods Agreement(EGA) negotiations face a fundamental and defining decision: will the final agreement aspire to create a living list of environmental goods, or will the list in the ratified agreement be final? The paper identifies basic ingredients that are needed for such a living list to function and offers concrete examples of ways in which those ele­ments might be embedded.  A definition of environmental goods in the context of the agreement is not a luxury for a successful EGA; it is a cornerstone. The WTO’s ITA has struggled unsuccessfully since 1997 to review and revise its coverage, in no small part because there is no agreed definition of information tech­nology products.  The EGA could follow the example of other international treaties, relying on an expert ad­visory body to assess goods proposed by EGA participants, and to recommend to the participants whether those goods should be added to the list.  While the necessary prerequisites for a living list are not easy, they are worth the effort. The resulting agreement need not be overly complex or recklessly experimental; other regimes provide examples of solutions that are straightforward to create and administer. Getting it right is impera­tive if the EGA is to fulfil its potential and promise: to help trade contribute to shared environmental priorities. 1 The author would like to thank the speakers and participants at the FES/IISD workshop“The Challenges of a Living List: Maki ng progress on a green goods agreement”( Geneva, 29 September 2014) for their input and discussion, all of which contributed substantially to this brief. Particular thanks go to Ronald Steenblik and Yvonne Theemann for their invaluable review and comments on the draft. The standard disclaimer applies; all errors and omissions remain the responsibility of the author. Page| 1