Trade and environment: selected issues of concern for Africa

Abstract

The concept of sustainable development has helped bridge the divide between the objectives of environmental protection and promotion of economic development. The work of the series of major United Nations sponsored conferences of the 1990s dealing with issues such as environment, habitat, water and population has given sustenance to the idea that policies to protect the environment need not be in conflict or indeed be separated from the pursuit of trade and development policies and that far from being a North-South issue, the trade-environment interface should be a shared goal that warrants international cooperation.