Global Environmental Governance

2 total works

Linking Trade, Environment and Social Cohesion

by Professor John J. Kirton and Virginia Maclaren

Published 28 May 2002

Focusing on the central issues of the contemporary trade-environment-social cohesion debate, this book analyzes the social and environmental impacts of existing trade liberalization through the World Trade Organization (WTO), North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other key regimes.

Hard Choices, Soft Law

by Professor John J. Kirton and Michael J. Trebilcock

Published 28 November 2004

An important read for academics and policy-makers alike, Hard Choices, Soft Law asserts that voluntary standards, or 'soft' law, are an important supplement to international law in a number of areas. This key work firstly outlines the approach taken to combining soft and hard law and trade, environment and labour values in the WTO and NAFTA, and in the prospective Millennium Round. Then, using the forestry sector - a realm where formal international law remains largely absent - the book provides a detailed examination of the role of soft law in action. It demonstrates how soft and hard law can be combined to promote trade, environmental and social cohesion, in ways that also permit sustainable development. The book presents a wealth of knowledge from a range of contributors familiar with the work of the G7/G8, the OECD, the Biodiversity Convention and the Codex Alimentarius.