Environmental assessment of trade: origins and critiques of effectiveness

Environmental assessment (EA) of trade negotiations was born of political and public unrest about the unaccounted-for environmental impact of trade. As a legally mandated policy tool, EA offered the promise of innovating environmental governance which would contribute towards environmental protection efforts. This dissertation reviews EA of trade models in the United States and the European Union. It reveals that the assessment model has not realized its full potential as an asset in the fight against environmental harms and has, at times, been relegated to the role of a box-ticking exercise. It argues that many of the observed shortcomings in principle could be addressed and that EA of trade can deliver on its potential and serve as a medium to engender participatory and collaborative efforts to encourage cohesion and steer environmental decision making in trade. In a world where the threat of environmental crises, such as climate change, is becoming increasingly real, EA of trade must be reclaimed and used as the innovative tool that was promised when it was created.