ABSTRACT

There is growing concern about the effects of international trade on the environment given increasing globalization. Especially in Asia, the volume of trade has increased considerably in the last two decades. As a result, the trade-and-environment debate has attracted a great deal of interest by researchers and policymakers, with environmental issues discussed not only in trade negotiations through the World Trade Organization (WTO) but also in regional trade agreements (RTAs), whose number in Asia has increased dramatically since the 2000s.1 The interaction between globalization and environmental quality thus has become an important policy issue given the ongoing integration of the international economy.