For a long time, trade and the environment have been odd bedfellows as environmentalists have claimed that the interests of the trade community have trumped their concerns. In recognition of this, the launch of the Doha Round explicitly recognized fears that the gains from growth and globalization could be undermined by their environmental side-effects. First, globalization-induced increases in trade can magnify cross-border pollution. Second, improvements in technology make it increasingly easy to intensify the exploitation of natural resources, potentially exacerbating the depletion of natural capital.
