Trade, the Environment and the Disillusions. Why environmental standards should not be included in the World Trade Organization

Since the Second World War, the systems of trade and environmental law have evolved very differently. It is claimed that the complete trading system impedes the development of the more shattered environmental system and that conflicts between them are likely to increase. Some argues that a solution would be to incorporate the environmental system should in the WTO. The purpose of this thesis is to show why these debaters are wrong and why the environmental system should not be included in the WTO. This is done through a normative approach and by drawing on four economic principles as well as by showing that the existing economic order can be completely compatible with sustainable development. Integration is argued as harmful because of the power asymmetry. Instead, an establishment of a new World Environmental Organization is important to ensure a sustainable development. To do this, theories as the Environmental Kuznet's Curve, the Pollution Haven Hypothesis, new institutionalism and environmental ethics are used. The thesis argues that the best way to ensure sustainable development is to keep the systems separated and to establish a WEO. The thesis also claims that there is a need for environmental ethical change in the definition of sustainable development