Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #122166

Jan Gilbreath, PhD, International Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, washington, DC 20004, 202/564-6279, gilbreath.jan@epa.gov

A growing body of academic literature establishes the link between trade-led economic growth and enviornmental health. Environmental health issues arise with trade in commodities, the flow of people across borders as a result of foreign direct investment, and infrastructure demands generated by trade-led economic growth. Although linkages are beginning to emerge, U.S. environmental reviews of trade agreements have not explored these linkages, and international cooperation on environmental health often occurs outside the scope of environmental agreements associated with trade. Trade policy specialists find it difficult to separate environmental health issues associated with trade from health issues associated with poverty and level of development. Governments need a greater understanding of the linkages between trade-related economic growth and environmental health so that these issues can be accurately addressed through environmental cooperation associated with trade. Both in the United States, and throughout the Western Hemisphere, opportunities exist to begin exploring these issues. The U.S. guidelines for conducting environmental reviews of trade agreement offer a mandate for exploring economically driven environmental health effects. In countries throughout the Americas, EPA, USAID and the Organization of American States have all supported efforts to establish methodologies for conducting environmental assessments of trade. The Western Hemisphere offers a significant opportunity to explore environmental health issues because hemispheric economic integration is now underway through a series of trade agreements, and that integration is leading to deeper environmental cooperation.

Learning Objectives:

• See session overview.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered