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Economics and Trade Branch (ETB) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
Year of publication: 2005
Paperback 142 pages
ISBN: 1-895536-85-5

The Handbook was developed to highlight the relationship between environment and trade. The primary aim is to foster a broader understanding of these interlinkages to enable governments to develop practical approaches to integrating these policies. The Handbook is aimed mainly at those with some knowledge about trade, environment or development, but not expert on the intersection of the three. It is also a practical reference tool for policy-makers and practitioners.

The report researches the trade and environmental effects of ecolabels through a literature review and includes five case studies of specific labels. It reveals data limitation of identifying these effects and sets out further research and multistakeholder exchange that is required to support design and application of ecolables which support sustainable development. The interaction between trade and environmental policies, and public policies and market forces are examined in some depth.

The Government of Lebanon has introduced or is in the process of developing various policies and measures to reduce the impact of trade on the environment. Among these policies is the phasing out the use of methyl bromide on selected agricultural crops in light of Lebanon’s trade liberalization efforts and commitments under the Montreal Protocol. This study determines the environmental impacts of Lebanon’s trade in greenhouse agricultural products using methyl bromide and assesses the potential impacts (environmental, economic, health and social) that would result from phasing it out. Results indicate that while no single method will adequately replace use of methyl bromide, farmers were generally pleased with the results obtained with the various alternatives and are adjusting their production accordingly. A two-phase policy for a total phasing out of methyl bromide is proposed as well as recommendations to conduct further studies to analyse the effects of trade liberalization on agriculture in Lebanon.

This report is a review of studies in six countries commissioned under UNEP's "Capacity Building for Integrating Environmental Considerations into Development Planning and Decision-making" programme. Over a 2 year period, UNEP has worked closely with national institutions in Bangladesh, Chile, India, the Philippines, Romania and Uganda, to identify both the environmental impacts of trade liberalisation and the economic instruments which can be used to sustainably manage these impacts.

This report presents a synthesis of the main findings and conclusions from six projects supported by UNEP to assess the environmental effects of trade liberalization and other trade-related policies in developing countries. The country projects which have been conducted by national research institutions were undertaken within an overall policy context in which there is increasing recognition of the need for the assessment of trade policies, in order to contribute to the design of policies which support sustainable development.

As part of the efforts of the UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity Building Task Force (CBTF), this module is designed to assist trainers in preparing and delivering training courses for policy makers engaged in trade policy-making and negotiation. In addition to providing information about substantive issues such as the trade and environment interlinkages, sustainable development, and the on-going topics of WTO trade negotiations, it discusses different capacity building tools and the development of country-specific approaches. It is an introductory training module aiming to assists policy makers in identifying trade-related capacity building priorities and in developing targeted capacity building programmes. The module includes background information, session outlines, handouts, overhead masters and a CD-ROM.