Trading Off the Future: Making World Trade Environmentally Sustainable
Author(s)
Ekins, Paul
Abstract
“Globalization” is one of the most significant trends of our times and can be seen in almost every facet of human life. Perhaps this trend is most clearly visible with regard to the economy. World trade increased eleven-fold between 1950-1990. This increase is twice as fast as world product, which increased only five-fold during the same period. A principal actor in world trade is the large transnational corporation. The turnover of the world’s 100 largest corporations now exceeds the GDP of almost half of the countries in the world. No less significant has been the trend of the degradation of the global environment, which is a result of much of this economic activity. In the context of these changing conditions, international trade is currently being rethought and restructured. Paramount in this thinking should be the relationship between trade, environment, and development.
