North-South Trade and the Dynamics of Renewable Resources

"The global environment can be described by the physical dynamics and the economic use of the earth's resources. It has become, to a certain extent, a North-South issue. Developing countries tend to specialize in the production and the export of goods which deplete environmental resources such as rain forests, or minerals whose combustion leads to the emission of greenhouse gases. Currently two thirds of the exports from Latin America are resources, and resources make an even higher proportion of Africa's exports. Most of these resources are imported and consumed by the industrial countries. For example, most of the world's production of wood pulp is consumed in the industrial countries, as is the petroleum exported by developing countries. The result is that industrial countries account for a large majority of CO~ emissions. The US alone consumes 25-30% of the world's oil production yearly. When trying to define precisely the concept of sustainable development we are led therefore to question the role of international trade. In practical terms: are trade policies based on the traditional comparative advantages of developing countries compatible with environmental preservation? Should the developing countries export more resource and land intensive products such as agricultural goods? Or should a new vision of international trade, one more consistent with the world's environment, replace the old?