Introduction: Trade, Environment and Sustainable Development: A South Asian Perspective

The linkages between the objectives of liberalised international trade, protection of the environment and sustainable development have become extremely important to international policy making. Although the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of the GATT negotiations appears to have ushered in a new era of more open and expansive international trade, there are concerns about a collision between freer trade and the policies being utilised to protect the environment. While the concept of sustainable development incorporates a requirement to make trade and environment objectives mutually supportive, like the concept of sustainable development itself, this raises more questions than it immediately answers. Many developing countries have raised concerns that the promises now being made to integrate trade and environment policies will be illusory and undermine the achievements of the Uruguay Round and their recent efforts to liberalise their economies.