ABSTRACT
International trade and investment are critical to the prospects for achieving sustainable development, particularly in developing countries. For the past fifteen years, this relationship has been the subject of debate and sometimes street demonstrations. Much of the concern has centred on the issue of trade liberalisation and its environmental and social impacts, and spurred demands for these effects to be more openly and systematically addressed. Early work, beginning in the 1990s, centred on environmental assessment and review of trade policies and measures. Recently, its scope has been extended to cover the wider links among trade, environment and sustainable development, including the effects on social well-being. In this chapter, we look at the state of practice in analysing these linkages and the diagnostic approaches that are used for this purpose.
