An ecological-economic assessment of deregulation of international commerce under GATT

This paper discusses the ecological-economic implications of deregulation of trade as promoted by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). 1 This includes both environmental 2 and socio-economic factors such as standards of living and equity. We outline fifteen overlapping problems with deregulation or "free" trade. We argue that many environmental problems cannot be resolved equitably, efficiently, or sustainably by unregulated markets, and that there is no alternative to public intervention in certain situations. We repeat the 1987 Brundtland Commission's question of how far into international trade should regulation penetrate (WCED, 1987)? The Commission's call for GATT's environmental reform 3 has not yet been heeded.