Concerted Action on Trade and the Environment – CAT&E

The trade and environment policy and research agendas have expanded rapidly. Following conclusion of the Uruguay Round the agenda of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) expanded to incorporate a number of environment-related issues, such as public health, agriculture and sustainable development. The rapid expansion of the trade and environment agenda has created a major area of research that is attracting researchers in virtually all member states.

This proposed concerted action aims to ensure the debate between these research centres and to draw new participants into the process. It also provides for dialogue with policy-makers. The concerted action is structured around a series of substantive questions and intends to respond to the dynamics of this evolving research agenda and to generate new impulses for research.

The project agenda foresees the organisation of three annual members’ meetings to identify and discuss priority research issues and three annual conferences to present current research to a wider audience.

FEEM is a member of the consortium and attends the meetings providing information on its own research work on CAT&E-related issues, providing peer review of the literature surveys and state-of-the-art reports drafted by the lead participants to the network, and expressing its own views on trade and environment priorities.

The concerted action started in December 2002 and will last 36 months. It is co-ordinated by Prof. Onno Kuik from IVM, The Netherlands, and involves other two lead participants and 18 European members.