Chapter 23 Revisiting Economic Globalization in the Sustainable Open Exchange System

As the world economies have become more integrated and with the global economy subsequently growing, there is increasing concern regarding how such trends will affect the developing and developed nations’ trade, trade in services, gross domestic product (GDP) growth, and climate change. In fact, the relationship between globalization and the environment has become quite contentious in policy circles. In part in response to these controversies, a burgeoning amount of academic attention has emerged that examines the globalization linkage between trade and economic growth as an after effect (positive and negative). Although there have been advances in the thinking about these relationships, significant challenges still persist. In light of the above, this chapter talks about the evolution of globalization, prevailing benefits and also caters to the views of some famous economists like Stiglitz, Simon Kuznets. The crucial aspects include the review of globalization on the basis of certain parameters like Trade (as % of GDP), Trade in services (as % of GDP), per capita CO 2 emissions and per capita GDP that have impacted the trends of both developed and developing nations. It arrives at the position that many current and proposed national and multilateral environmental policies are in a possible conflict with current and proposed trade and investment rules. When climate policy and global trade rules are combined, the nature of their linkage is often a function of both domestic and international politics. This also implies that, despite the worldwide awareness of climate change, the address of climate change in trade will become increasingly significant for reducing carbon footprints.