ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ways in which globalisation, in general, and trade and investment liberalisation, in particular, can be used to promote more sustainable outcomes in Asia. It also examines the linkages between economic integration and environmental protection in Asia. The chapter identifies points of leverage within the globalisation process that can be used to improve environmental sustainability throughout the region and promote dynamic and cleaner development of Asia. The chapter discusses the forms and trends of globalisation in the Asia-Pacific region. It describes the nature of the economic integration process that has taken place in the region and the crucial environmental issues. The globalisation of trade and capital flows and the increasingly strong economic interrelationships between nations that facilitate trade agreements create an important opportunity for environmental policy influence. More sophisticated measures of regional interdependence, such as gravity coefficients, indicate that there is greater intra-regional bias in the Asia-Pacific than found either in Europe or in North America.
