Trade and the environment : a survey of the literature

The recent revitalization of concern for environmental quality has generated many questions about the interaction between trade and the environment. Most of these questions have to do with the impact of environmental regulation on trade patterns and gains from trade. If a tradeoff is perceived, it is often argued that some intervention becomes appropriate: either a specific trade policy or the establishment of an international environmental standard. Present GATT policy then becomes an issue of debate. Should GATT revise its rules to accommodate the specific trade measures suggested? How can GATT ensure that the environmental objective is not a disguise for a trade barrier? Should GATT establish some international environmental standard with procedures to ensure compliance? The importance given to trade liberalization and exchange rate policy reform as part of adjustment for development has raised another set of questions: Is there a direct link between the removal of trade barriers and environmental degradation? If so, how should liberalization strategies incorporate this cost? Should trade policy be used to meet environmental objectives? The author surveys the literature on the main questions being debated in both of these areas. Among her conclusions: (1) More stringent regulations in one country are thought to result in reduced competitiveness and perhaps industrial flight and the development of pollution havens. The many empirical studies that have tried to test these hypotheses have shown no evidence to support them. (2) Countervailing duties or an international environmental standard have no place here. Both concepts ignore the reallocation of resources that must occur if externalities are to be efficiently incorporated into costs. They also ignore the fact that standards should be based on local calculations of marginal costs and benefits. Only if an exporter's standards are below what is locally optimal would a countervailing duty be justified. (3) Subsidies are likely to be trade barriers in disguise and should generally not be accommodated. They are not usually an efficient means of achieving an environmental objective and may hinder the efficient allocation of resources away from pollution-intensive industries. (4) Imposing a tariff when pollution spills over national boundaries can be no more than a second-best policy. If the tariff is based on damage to the victim country alone, it will not reduce trade in the polluting product enough; if it maximizes the welfare of the victim, it may reduce trade in the product too much. (5) There seems to be a case for establishing some international code of product standards, to prevent the use of such standards as nontariff barriers.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Water and Industry,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Health Monitoring&Evaluation

Measurement, Reporting and Verification in a Post-2012 Climate Agreement

Considers options for the measurement, reporting, and verification of developed nations' mitigation commitments or actions, developing nations' mitigation actions, and support for the latter. Outlines basic issues and existing mechanisms and requirements

The fall and rise of the green economy

It is five years since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and its knock-on effects are still playing out in ways that are likely to have longer-term implications than those purely financial in nature; namely, its impact on the green agendas of governments and industries and the brake it has placed on an emerging green economy. The green economy has been identified as the next major long wave of structural economic and socio-technical change at a global level (see key reference list at end of article). It can be expected to exert a more significant triple bottom line impact than that of the information economy, the last major post-industrial societal transition whose emergence accelerated through the latter half of the 20th century and continues to exert transformational change today via its links with new media and communications, the knowledge economy and the creative economy. The drivers of a green economy are different but equally powerful and go to the heart of global sustainability in the 21st century: averting highly disruptive climate change, living within the finite resource limits of the planet, avoiding the environmental degradation currently associated with industrial and urban development, and supporting a projected nine billion population

A framework for future training in marine and coastal protected area management

Training, Protected areas, Marine environment, Coastal zone management

Marine Managed Areas: What, Why, and Where

This paper, which focuses on ocean and coastal areas, explores the challenge of public participation by discussing the role of communities in IM. It draws on a decade of collaboration between academics and community partners to outline the community perspective on both the limiting factors and the opportunities, and a state-of-the-art survey of community involvement in IM, parti-cularly in the Canadian Maritimes. The paper highlights the importance of linking communities and governments, and the need to overcome the growing disconnect between the two. It also illustrates the varied experiences of local coastal communities with IM through three concrete examples. These practical examples lead to two specific out-puts: a set of fundamental IM values and attributes from a community perspective, and a four-step process for facilitating and enabling community-focused IM.The conclusion summarizes key outcomes in terms of inclusivity and active involvement of communities

Assessment of Food Production Potential - Resources, Technology and Environment - A Case Study of Kenya

Understanding the nature and dimensions of the world food problem and the policies available to alleviate it has been the focal point of the IIASA Food and Agriculture Program since it began in 1977. In the program we are not only concerned with policies over a 5 to 15 year time horizon, but also with a long term perspective to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the food problems of the world. As we anticipate over the coming decades a technological transformation of agriculture which will be constrained by resource limitations and which could have serious environmental consequences, a number of important questions arise. (a) What is the stable, sustainable production potential of the world? of regions? of nations? (b) Can mankind be fed adequately by this stable, sustainable production potential? (c) What alternative transition paths are available to reach desirable levels of this production potential? (d) What are sustainable, efficient combinations of techniques of food production, (e) What are the resource requirements of such techniques? (f) What are the policy implications at national, regional global levels of sustainability? Stability and sustainability are both desirable properties from the considerations of inter-generational equity as well as of political stability and peace. We hold environmental considerations to be of critical importance in answering the questions posed. This report presents the results of a case study of Kenya carried out as a part of the FAO/UNFPA Project INT/513, Land Resources for Populations of the Future, being carried out in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Program, IIASA. The results are preliminary and should be regarded as the first approximation. At the present time a detailed case study of Kenya (Phase 2, FAO/Kenya/IIASA Study) is being carried out. As understanding of the ecological and technological limits of food production is a critical part of agricultural development planning, this report highlights the results for Kenya and the methodology of evaluating agricultural production potential, population supporting capacity and soil degradation hazards. Policy relevance and implications for Kenya are briefly discussed. This preliminary report in collaboration with the Land and Water Division of the FAO is the first of a series on the potentials and limits of food production in developing countries

Achieving urban climate adaptation in Europe and Central Asia

Many cities across Europe and Central Asia are experiencing the impacts of climate change, but most have not integrated climate adaptation into their agendas. This paper examines the threats faced and measures that can be taken by cities in the region to protect buildings, heritage sites, municipal functions, and vulnerable urban populations. In general, local governments must be proactive in ensuring that existing buildings are climate ready, paying particular attention to emerging technologies for retrofitting the prefabricated, panel style buildings that dominate the landscape while assessing the viability of homes situated in flood plains, coastal areas, and steep slopes. They also must ensure that new developments and buildings are designed in ways that account for climatic fluctuations. Although the resilience of all populations needs to be considered, historical patterns of discrimination require that special provisions are made for the poor and for ethnic minorities such as the Roma because these groups will be most at risk, but are least likely to have access to adequate resources. Urban climate adaptation requires national-level support and local commitment. However, centralized planning and expert-led decision-making under the former regimes may affect the ability of cities to pursue programmatic approaches to adaptation. Therefore, while national governments need to make adaptation a policy priority and ensure that municipalities have adequate resources, local government agencies and departments must be transparent in their actions and introduce participatory and community-based measures that demonstrate respect for diverse stakeholders and perspectives.Wetlands,Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases,Environmental Economics&Policies,Science of Climate Change,Climate Change Economics

Environmental and Health risks Associated with Dental Waste Management: A Review

Proper management of dental waste is a crucial issue for maintaining human health and the environment. The waste generated in the dental clinics has the potential for spreading infections and causing diseases, so improper disposal of these dental wastes can cause harm to the dentist, the people in immediate vicinity of the dentist, waste handlers, general public and the environment through production of toxins or as by-products of the destruction process. Staff that provide dental healthcare ought to be aware of the proper handling and the system of management of dental waste used by different dental hospitals. The method of investigation adopted in the paper involved a desk study in which documents and records relating to dental waste handling were studied to obtain background information on existing dental waste management in Nigeria other countries of the world are also mentioned as examples.  Additionally, information on generation, handling, segregation, risk associated during handling and treatment of dental medical waste were sought in order to determine the best method for safe disposal. This article provides dentists with the information they need to properly dispose of mercury and amalgam waste, and provides suggestions for managing the other wastes that result from the day-to-day activities of a dental office such as: used X-ray fixers and developers; cleaners for X-ray developer systems; lead foils, shields and aprons; chemiclave/chemical sterilant solutions; disinfectants, cleaners, and other chemicals; and, general office waste. Additionally, this study may be beneficial for authorities and researchers of developing countries to work towards improving their present Dental waste management system. Keywords: Clinic, dental, disposal, environment, waste management

Some aspects of European climate policy

Being heavily energy dependent, it is not much of a surprise that Europe pays special attention to reducing the use of fossil fuels. Each one of the ten new member states is characterized by relatively low per capita energy consumption and relatively low energy efficiency, and the share of renewables in their energy mix tends to be low, too. The paper examines the problem, when the policy measures create a decrease in environmental capital instead of an increase. In this case it hardly seems justified to talk about environmental protection. The authors describe a case of a rapeseed oil mill which would not be of too much interest on its own but given that almost all similar plants went bankrupt, there are some important lessons to learn from its survival. The enterprise the authors examined aimed at establishing a micro-regional network. They completed a brown-field development to establish a small plant on the premises of a former large agricultural cooperative. By partnering with the former employees and suppliers of the sometime cooperative, they enjoyed some benefits which all the other green-field businesses focusing on fuel production could not. The project improved food security, energy security and population retention as well

Environmental actions to reduce household ecological footprints

This paper presents the ideas of UK householders on how to reduce their Ecological Footprint (EF) after applying a tool called 'EcoCal', which assesses the environmental impacts of households by measuring footprints arising from Transport, Energy, Shopping, House and Garden, Water and Waste. Analysis of the EcoCal results of nearly 700 adult Open University (OU) student households showed that transport and energy impacts are the biggest contributors to the household footprint. Reducing these impacts poses the greatest challenge to achieving a globally sustainable household EF of approximately 0.5 hectares per person. Analysis of the ideas that the OU students were prepared to consider to reduce their household EF revealed a variety of technical and behavioural changes. However, in the context of their own household, the OU students identified several constraints on the implementation of their environmental action plans. Despite such constraints, many of the students instigated changes that helped to make their households more sustainable