Free Trade and the Environment:  
                   The Picture Becomes Clearer 
                  Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America 
                                 2002 
                              
                             This publication accompanies and makes reference               This publication was prepared by the Secretariat of the 
                             to information contained in:                                   Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North 
                              
                             The Environmental Effects of Free Trade: Papers                America (CEC). The views contained herein do not 
                             Presented at the North American Symposium on                   necessarily reflect the views of the Governments of 
                             Assessing the Linkages between Trade and 
                             Environment (October 2000), CEC 2002.                          Canada, Mexico or the United States of America. 
                                                                                             
                              
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                                                                                            ISBN 2-922305-78-3 
                                                                                            French Edition: ISBN 2-922305-79-1 
                                                                                            Spanish Edition: ISBN 2-922305-80-5 
                                                                                             
                                                                                             
                                                                                            © Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 2002 
                                                                                             
                                                                                             
                             Acknowledgements                                               Legal Deposit–Bibliothèque nationale du Québec, 2002 
                             The authors of this report, Scott Vaughan and Greg             Legal Deposit–Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2002 
                             Block of the CEC Secretariat, gratefully acknowledge            
                             the support of the Ford Foundation, as well as                  
                             comments and editorial advice from the following                
                             people: Zachary Patterson, Douglas Kirk, Janine                 
                             Ferretti, Charles Dickson, and Chantal Line Carpentier.         
                             Any errors are those of the authors.                           Disponible en français – Disponible en español 
                              
                                                                                                                      Table of Contents     iii 
                   
                 Table of Contents 
                 Preface.................................................................................................................................................................v 
                 An Introduction: Free Trade with Environment, or Free Trade versus Environment?.................................1 
                      Income Growth and Environmental Change........................................................................................................1 
                             Recalling Environment-trade Predictions.............................................................................................5 
                      Trade, Growth and the Environment...................................................................................................................6 
                             Growth in Trade ...................................................................................................................................7 
                             Foreign Direct Investment....................................................................................................................8 
                             Geographic Concentration and Clusters..............................................................................................9 
                 Is Free Trade Changing Our Environment? Some Lessons Learned..........................................................10 
                      Policy Integration............................................................................................................................................10 
                      Transparency, Public Participation and Governance..........................................................................................10 
                      Changes in Air Pollution Emissions Linked to NAFTA ........................................................................................12 
                      New Pathways for Alien Invasive Species.........................................................................................................12 
                      Do Pollution Havens Exist? .............................................................................................................................13 
                      Environmental Impacts of Increased Freight Transport.......................................................................................14 
                      The Regulatory Clash: NAFTA Chapter Eleven, Investment................................................................................14 
                      NAFTA and Renewable Natural Resources.......................................................................................................16 
                      The Agricultural Sector ...................................................................................................................................16 
                      Methodological Issues ....................................................................................................................................17 
                      Which Environmental Indicators?.....................................................................................................................19 
                      Income and Equity Effects Linked to Trade.......................................................................................................19 
                      Market Integration and Social Inclusion ............................................................................................................21 
                      Conclusions and Next Steps............................................................................................................................22 
                 Appendix: Key Considerations concerning the Environmental Impacts of Free Trade gained 
                 during the North American Symposium on Understanding the Linkages between Trade and 
                 Environment......................................................................................................................................................25