This handbook aims to foster a better understanding of the interlinkages between international trade, the environment and the green economy. It therefore focuses on national and international trade policy and rules, on environmental governance and principles, and the relationship between both. This third edition of Environment and Trade: A Handbook covers a wealth of new information, including the emergence of the green economy concept, the latest WTO jurisprudence, and increasingly important legal and policy linkages between trade and green economy policies and practices in the changing dynamics of international trade with the emergence of the BRIC economies and the exponential rise in preferential trade agreements. The handbook has been renamed Trade and Green Economy: A Handbook to reflect the green economy as an important tool for achieving sustainable development and poverty eradication, and to illustrate the holistic approach that is required when addressing issues at the nexus of trade, environment and sustainable development.
As an increasing number of countries adopt green economy strategies, there is a need to support them in measuring the magnitude of this new economy. This papers aims to guide them in this discussion.
This handbook describes in detail how trade can affect the environment, for better and for worse, and how environmental concern can work through the trading system to foster or frustrate development, in both rich and poor countries.