Trade policy and the environment : the search for an institutional framework

This paper focuses on the choice of an institutional framework to link trade policy to environmental issues. Current institutional constraints limit the WTO system to contractual relationships based on the gains from trade and militate against the inclusion of an "environmental chapter". These considerations imply the need for a global environmental institution. Regional economic integration agreements and treaties on specific environmental issues may provide the basis for such an institution. The WTO may also play a role in this process by expanding the scope of economic bargaining issues available to negotiate a global environmental accord.(Aussenwirtschaft/SWP)