Trade And Environment

In the opinion of many, the most crucial issue confronting the world today lies in achieving a sustainable nexus among global trade, economic development, and the environment. This book, written by a prominent diplomat with extensive direct experience in this field, presents a much-needed critical perspective on the conflict of norms among the three policy regimes, focusing on the dilemma of reconciling approaches regarding harmonized global governance and a more diverse community-based approach. It is the first and only in-depth treatment to systematically study a series of deliberations in the World Trade Organization’s Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE), highlighting perspectives taken by both developed and developing economies. The book demonstrates that the CTE’s contributions to the evolving trade and environment policy framework have been, contrary to popular perception, both substantial and relevant. In his review of how the particular characteristics of twenty key work outputs of the CTE impact current practice in trade and environment policy discussions, the author discusses such key issues and topics as the following: a singular harmonized global governance framework versus the centrifugal force of community-based, localized or regional solutions that emphasize diversity and multifaceted institution building; drawbacks and continuing relevance of the CTE Work Agenda; issues related to carbon, intellectual property rights, and services; market access for environmental goods; requirements for environmental purposes relating to products, including standards and technical regulations, packaging, labeling, and recycling; and ways forward for combining global regimes with local solutions in an environmental context. Given the urgent need for making economic policies more coherent with sustainability and environmental goals, and for overcoming the ongoing stalemate between developed and developing countries on this matter, this book is sure to be warmly welcomed by policy makers and negotiators in the areas of both trade and environment, as well as by academics, theorists, and experts in the field of global governance interested in formulating practical approaches to trade and environment governance and minimizing potential policy conflicts.

Nowhere has the divide between advocates and critics of globalization been more striking than in debates over free trade and the environment. And yet the literature on the subject is high on rhetoric and low on results. This book is the first to systematically investigate the subject using both economic theory and empirical analysis. Brian Copeland and Scott Taylor establish a powerful theoretical framework for examining the impact of international trade on local pollution levels, and use it to offer a uniquely integrated treatment of the links between economic growth, liberalized trade, and the environment. The results will surprise many. The authors set out the two leading theories linking international trade to environmental outcomes, develop the empirical implications, and examine their validity using data on measured sulfur dioxide concentrations from over 100 cities worldwide during the period from 1971 to 1986. The empirical results are provocative. For an average country in the sample, free trade is good for the environment. There is little evidence that developing countries will specialize in pollution-intensive products with further trade. In fact, the results suggest just the opposite: free trade will shift pollution-intensive goods production from poor countries with lax regulation to rich countries with tight regulation, thereby lowering world pollution. The results also suggest that pollution declines amid economic growth fueled by economy-wide technological progress but rises when growth is fueled by capital accumulation alone. Lucidly argued and authoritatively written, this book will provide students and researchers of international trade and environmental economics a more reliable way of thinking about this contentious issue, and the methodological tools with which to do so.

This text examines the vital connections between trade, environment and development. It argues that current international trade rules and institutions must be significantly reformed to address environmental concerns while still promoting economic growth and development.

Climate change remains a global challenge requiring international collaborative action. Another area where countries have successfully committed to a long-term multilateral resolution is the liberalization of international trade. Integration into the world economy has proven a powerful means for countries to promote economic growth, development, and poverty reduction. The broad objectives of the betterment of current and future human welfare are shared by both global trade and climate regimes. Yet both climate and trade agendas have evolved largely independently through the years, despite their mutually supporting objectives. Since global emission goals and global trade objectives are shared policy objectives of most countries, and nearly all of the World Bank's clients, it makes sense to consider the two sets of objectives together. This book is one of the first comprehensive attempts to look at the synergies between climate change and trade objectives from economic, legal, and institutional perspectives. It addresses an important policy question - how changes in trade policies and international cooperation on trade policies can help address global environmental spillovers, especially GHG emissions, and what the (potential) effects of (national) environmental policies that are aimed at global environmental problems might be for trade and investment. It explores opportunities for aligning development and energy policies in such a way that they could stimulate production, trade, and investment in cleaner technology options.

Issues related to environmental protection and trade liberalization have moved to the forefront of international policy agendas. The Economics of International Trade and the Environment explores - from an economic standpoint - many of the questions that are germane in increasing our knowledge of environmental policy in the presence of international

Reference tool to facilitate broader understanding and awareness of relationship between environment and trade which can then become the basis on which fair and environmentally sustainable policies and trade flows are built.

This study provides an overview of approaches to environmental issues in RTAs and summarises country experiences in their negotiation and practical application.