ABSTRACT
Ever since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the idea that economic development should at the same time ensure environmental protection and social advancement, has gained popularity and credence among scientific and civic groups worldwide. Indeed, many politicians, international organizations and regimes have used explicit reference to sustainable development when negotiating and prescribing political action plans for economic growth and poverty reduction. However, as a look at globalization processes in the Western Hemisphere, these references have proved to be mostly rhetorical. Environmental and development economists from seven countries in the Americas undertook detailed analyses of the environmental impacts of reform policies in their various countries. In addition to scale effects, trade and environment analysts examine two other types of impact. Composition effects relate to the changing composition of economic activity, with increases in some economic sectors and decreases in others creating changing demands on the environment.
