Trade and the Environment: The Legal Context

Abstract

This chapter provides a brief characterization of the international dimension of environmental economics in its relation to international trade. A survey on “Selected Ecological Trends” demonstrates the increasing importance of crossborder environmental problems. However, the international competitiveness of private companies may also be harmed by high environmental standards, even if they refer to local pollution only. Should environmental standards therefore be harmonized to establish a “level playing field” for international trade? Although an answer to this question will only be attempted in a later chapter, it shows clearly that also regional environmental problems gain, through international trade, an intrinsic international dimension. As a consequence, one should first study the framework conditions for international trade and their consequences for national and international environmental policy.