International Trade, Investment, and the Sustainable Development Goals
World Trade Forum

A multi-disciplinary investigation of how economic globalization can help achieve the UN's 2030 Agenda, exploring trade-offs among the Goals.

Cosimo Beverelli (Edited by), Jürgen Kurtz (Edited by), Damian Raess (Edited by)

9781108744119, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 August 2022

343 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.462 kg

'The Sustainable Development Goals affect us all, and with exports accounting for over 30% of world output and investment flows well over $1 trillion a year, trade and investment are clearly key to achieving them. This book takes a detailed, multidisciplinary look at the way in which international trade and investment agreements, public bodies and the private sector deal with this key connection. It is packed with insight and thought-provoking ideas. It does not promote simple solutions but rather provides the understanding and analytical base on which future scholars and policymakers should build.' L. Alan Winters, Professor of Economics, University of Sussex

In September 2015, world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a distinctive approach to development that moves away from a narrow perspective on economic development to an integrative agenda that simultaneously pursues ecological, social and economic goals. Trade and foreign investment are important economic vectors through which many of these goals can be achieved. Much depends, however, on whether and how SDGs are incorporated in international trade and investment agreements, and in private or public sector initiatives. Policymakers are also confronted with the interdependence of the SDGs which raises difficult trade-offs between various Goals. The contributions in this book explore the penetration and trade-offs of the SDGs, drawing on a multi-disciplinary approach incorporating insights from economists, lawyers and political scientists. The book offers a valuable guide for scholars and policy makers in identifying and evaluating the complex challenges related to sustainable development.

Part I. Penetration and Diffusion of the Sustainable Development Goals: 1. A cross-cutting legal analysis of the EU PTAs' chapters on sustainable development: further steps towards the attainment of the SDGs? Giovanna Adinolfi
2. The European Union's new international investment policy and the United Nation's sustainable development goals: integration as motor of substantive policy change? J. Robert Basedow
3. Natural resources management in the SDGs era: insights from the WTO case law Ilaria Espa
Part II. Top Down: Public Approaches to Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: 4. The trade effects of environmental provisions in preferential trade agreements Axel Berger, Clara Brandi, Jean-Frederic Morin and Jacob Schwab
5. Facilitating sustainable investment: the role and limits of investment promotion agencies Sarah Bauerle Danzman and Geoffrey Gertz
Part III. Bottom-Up: Private Sector and Civil Society Initiatives on the Sustainable Development Goals: 6. Voluntary standards, trade and sustainable development Matteo Fiorini, Hinnerk Gnutzmann, Arevik Gnutzmann-Mkrtchyan and Bernard Hoekman
7. The role of VSS in sustainable livelihoods for cocoa farmers in Côte d'Ivoire Lee Ann Jackson and Kossivi Balema
8. Unblocking the trade pipes: using blockchain technology to facilitate trade for sustainable development Alisa DiCaprio, Christine McDaniel, Badri G. Narayanan and Hanna C. Norberg
9. The effects of environmental costs on public support for foreign direct investment: differences between the United States and India Hye-Sung Kim and Youngchae Lee.

Subject Areas: International economic & trade law [LBBM], International law [LB], Law [L], International business [KJK], Political economy [KCP]