Daniel Esty

Air and water pollution blighted northern Mexican cities long before the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a glimmer on the political horizon. Not surprisingly, when NAFTA became a political reality, environmentalists argued that commercial competition would weaken environmental standards in Canada and the United States and industrial growth in Mexico would further damage its weak environmental infrastructure. NAFTA's huge success in expanding free trade has concentrated population and environmental abuse at the US-Mexico border where it is most visible to Americans. Many environmental groups blame NAFTA and, drawing on its experience, now oppose new trade initiatives. Does the NAFTA record on the environment since 1994 justify its criticism? In this seven-year analysis, the authors review NAFTA's environmental provisions, including a side accord-the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), the situation at the US-Mexican border, and the trends in North American environmental policy. They emphasize that the environmental problems of North America were not the result of NAFTA and the NAAEC was not devised to address all of them. The authors recommend ways to better NAFTA's environmental dimension in all three countries, and improve living conditions where economic growth is greatest-at the US-Mexican border. It makes more sense to tackle the shortcomings than to lament NAFTA and the economic growth it promotes.

Asia Pacific countries have experienced extraordinary economic growth in recent years. But the region also suffers from choking air pollution, fouled water, ravaged forests, depleted fisheries, and other environmental problems. Eager to promote further growth, governments in the region have embarked on an ambitious program of economic integration through the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. In this volume, Dua and Esty argue that APEC's trade and investment liberalization can be compatible with environmental protection. They stress, moreover, that true prosperity and the APEC vision of a "community of Asia Pacific economies" cannot be achieved without attention to public health and ecological threats, resource management issues, and tensions at the economy-environment interface. The authors identify the issues that must be dealt with internationally and propose an ambitious environmental action agenda for APEC that would play an important role in that strategy.

There is growing consensus that new international rules and principles are needed to reconcile conflicts, and promote complementarities, between trade and environmental goals. The issue is especially acute for very poor countries striving for rapid economic growth. Esty, a former Environmental Protection Agency official with extensive experience in trade and environmental negotiations, examines the vital connections between trade, environment and development. He argues that current international trade rules and institutions must be significantly reformed to address environmental concerns while still promoting economic growth and development. Esty offers new international rules and principles to help make trade and environmental policies work together to better achieve sustainable economic progress. He concludes with recommendations for a Global Environmental Organization (GEO) to promote simultaneous achievement of trade environmental goals.