Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject Economics - Foreign Trade Theory, Trade Policy, grade: 1, , language: English, abstract: This paper looks into the effects the international trade has on the environment. Trade and environment is one of the most debated topics in management and economics studies over the years because of the increasing concerns on how international trade affects environment and vice versa. That said, the debate on trade and environment is not new, and it emerged in the early 1970s with concerns such as environmental protection, environmental policies on trade, and the impact on trade on environment. Most of the developed economies expressed interests on environmental degradation linked with the globalization process for instance, industrial pollution. In the 1980s, environmental concerns increased as more complex environmental issues were raised such as the climate change and the depletion of the ozone layer. Later in the 1990s, the sustainable development concept was introduced as trade liberalization and the globalization process accelerated. Several theories in support of international trade such as the economic theory has rendered the debate complex as the proponents of the economic theory argue that international trade is vital to economies because it results into a robust economic growth and also generates greater wellbeing of its citizens. That said, environmental policies and goals have been difficult to achieve during these debates. Diverse arguments exist about international trade with a few ecologists in favour of environmental protection as they argue that international trade has resulted into environmental depletion as the demand of world natural resources continue to increase. Of the two perspectives, there is an intermediate concept which has been proposed, the sustainable development which means that as international trade results into economic growth, this growth must be accompanied by environmental policies and strict environmental protection rules. Some of the defenders of sustainable development have supported free trade but with the inclusion of restrictions in multilateral negotiations so as to control the degradation of natural resources.

This title was first published in 2002: The interrelationship between international trade and the environment has become the subject of much heated debate. These complex and strong concerns are given voice in this comprehensive and accessible text that brings together the leading journal articles dealing with the fundamental questions about this most important international problem. International Trade and the Environment offers an invaluable source of contemporary international research for all those researching, studying or practicing across the fields of international trade, environmental economics, applied microeconomics and other related areas.

The report surveys the state of our knowledge regarding the effects of trade on the environment. A central question is whether globalization helps or hurts in achieving the best tradeoff between environmental and economic goals. Do international trade and investment allow countries to achieve more economic growth for any given level of environmental quality? Or do they damage environmental quality for any given rate of economic growth? Globalization is a complex trend, encompassing many forces and many effects. It would be surprising if all of them were always unfavorable to the environment, or all of them favorable. The highest priority should be to determine ways in which globalization can be successfully harnessed to promote protection of the environment, along with other shared objectives, as opposed to degradation of the environment. The report considers whether globalization has damaged environmental goals. Trade has some of its effects through the channel of accelerating economic growth, because trade contributes to growth analogously to investment, technological progress, and so on. Other effects come even when taking the level of income as given. In the case of each of the two channels, effects can be either positive or negative.

This conference proceedings examines how to assess the environmental effects of trade liberalisation agreements.

Ensayo sobre la relación entre la política medioambiental y el comercio internacional, así como los efectos que puede tener en la exportación nacional, pudiendo crear desventajas competitivas para unos, y dificultades en la balanza de pagos para otros.

Should there be firmer restrictions on trade, with more policies aimed at protecting its environmental impacts, or would the environment benefit most from unrestricted free trade? Do importing countries have a responsibility only to their local ecosystems, or are they also responsible for environmental degradation caused by the production of traded goods in exporting countries? Trading the Environment examines both the dependence and the effects of international trade on the earth's life support systems and looks at ways in which trading regulations could be adapted to promote ecologically sustainable economic development. It addresses the issues from a fully integrated approach, focusing on the interrelations between ecosystems, economic development and trade. The authors provide a carefully constructed ecological and economic analysis of trade and the environment, examine the existing legal and institutional frameworks and set out 16 recommendations to achieve environment beneficial trade at both national and international levels. Trading with the environment was originally commissioned by the Swedish government and is already regarded thereon essential reference. It makes an excellent introduction as well as constructive analysis, both for students and for policy-makers and professional economics and other scientists working on the issues. Published in 1995

QUOTEWe live in an increasingly interconnected world. Trade flows worldwide are growing rapidly and global production patterns are shifting as countries follow their comparative advantage in production via trade. At the same time, however, there is growing concern about potential adverse environmental impacts from increasing trade.QUOTE--John A. Dixon, Lead Economist, The Environment Department, World BankInterest in the trade and environment debate has intensified as a result of international trade agreements and because many proposed solutions to the climate change problem have potential implications for the global trading system. Clearly more empirical work is needed to inform the debate, guide policymakers toward solutions, and help set priorities.This volume is an attempt to further our understanding of the empirical links between trade and the environment. Thirteen chapters, which were presented as papers at a World Bank conference in April 1998, focus on three main themes:1. Effects of trade liberalization and growth on the environment2. The QUOTEpollution havenQUOTE hypothesis3. Economic instruments for resolving global environmental problemsThe papers address a number of different issues within each of the themes, offering new data or new questions and approaches. They are devoted to deepening our understanding and empirical knowledge of the various effects of trade liberalization. Only through a firm understanding of the linkages involved can well-founded policy advice be formulated.

Contains background documents for OECD discussions on the environmental effects of trade, including sector studies on agriculture, forestry, fisheries, endangered species and transport. Includes the OECD procedural guidelines on trade and environment of June 1993, a discussion of the 1972 OECD Guiding Principles and an overview of issues pertaining to the harmonization of environmental policies.

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 book examines the extent to which there are trade impediments to the transfer and adoption of environmental goods and services and how can these be addressed by global trade negotiations.