IV. CONSIDERATION OF MULTILATERAL TRADE AND ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS IN
DOMESTIC POLICY FORMULATION
[ IV | IV-A
| IV-B | IV-C ]
The Earth Summit in Rio laid the foundation
for a new type of global partnership that could achieve sustainable development
and gave impetus to the search for a policy framework that would promote
both economic efficiency and environmental improvement. The commitment
to such a partnership calls for environmental issues to be addressed within
the prescribed framework on the domestic front as well as the equally important
cross-border environmental problems. Progress in issues such as climate
change, biodiversity, sustainable forestry practices can only come about
with sustained cooperation of all countries.
Agenda 21 recognizes the need for international
cooperation in enhancing economic growth as well as sustainable development.
A number of areas have been identified where the support of the international
community is fundamental in providing an enabling climate for sustainable
development, including: (a) the promotion of sustainable development through
trade; (b) the reinforcement of the mutually supportive concerns of trade
and environment; (c) the encouragement of macroeconomic policies supportive
of the environment and developmental aspirations; and (d) addressing the
issue of trade restrictions in the guise of environmental regulations.
Those concerns form the core of global agreements on the environment
and, given the increasing focus of environmental initiatives in the international
sphere, it is expected that multilateral agreements on the environment
will increase. Developing countries, in particular, expect progress in
those areas of cooperation to address the root cause of trade-environmental
conflicts, as well as provide solutions to the large disparities in technical
capacity for environmental management and the lack of resources for environmental
protection.
Integrating sustainable development concepts into a well-defined policy
discipline remains a formidable responsibility. The same holds true for
mainstreaming multilateral agreements on trade and environment at the policy
level, given that the tools and institutional mechanisms that could facilitate
integration are still evolving. Efforts are underway to harmonize the agreements
with the national framework of agenda setting in the environmental sector.
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