ABSTRACT
This chapter evaluates the claim that the North American Free Trade Agreement's (NAFTA) Chapter 11 has undermined environmental regulation in North America. It suggests that certain changes to the NAFTA Chapter 11 process may be warranted, to take account of some of the weaknesses of the current institutional architecture. The rules found in Chapter 11 are by no means novel in international economic law. The key legal principles are largely grounded in customary international law, as codified in a myriad of existing bilateral investment treaties. The concerns over Chapter 11 are part of a broader set of issues about the costs of globalisation - that is, increased global economic integration - and increased environmental concern and activism on the part of nongovernmental organisations. The focus on the effect of NAFTA Chapter 11 on public regulation also obscures the fact that other important values are at stake.
