Globalisation, trade and 10
the environment
Contents
Globalisation and the environment 272
International trade and the environment 274
The WTO and the environment 277
North American Free Trade Agreement 281
The European Union 281
Conclusion 288
Further reading and websites 288
Key issues
◗ What is the relationship between globalisation and the environment?
◗ Is free trade good for the environment?
◗ Does the WTO protect the environment?
◗ Is NAFTA a ‘green’ treaty?
◗ Why has the EU developed such an extensive and progressive body of
environmental legislation?Theprevious chapterexamined the high politics of international environ-
mental diplomacy – the negotiation of environmental treaties between
nations – but it also introduced the international political economy per-
spective to help understand problems in implementing those treaties. This
chapter focuses more squarely on the relationship between the global cap-
italist economy, specifically international trade, and the environment. The
discussion is based on the assumption that globalisation has had a pro-
found impact on the global economy over the last thirty years, although