2020 Revised Framework for Conducting Environmental Assessments of Trade Negotiations - 2021-01-01
Description
The environmental assessment (EA) of trade agreements is one of three complementary assessments undertaken by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) to evaluate the impacts of Canada’s trade policy initiatives. In parallel with Economic Impact Assessments and Gender-Based Analysis + (GBA+), EAs aim to assess the impacts of prospective international trade agreements against environmental sustainability priorities, as set out in Canada’s current Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS).
Since 2001, GAC has been conducting environmental assessments of its international trade negotiations, further to the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals. This directive provides guidelines to departments and agencies in their conduct of strategic environmental assessments of policies, plans and program proposals. Building on these guidelines, GAC developed its own framework for the environmental assessment of trade negotiations, which takes into account the environmental implications of trade agreements and the international context in which they are negotiated. As such, EAs closely align with the negotiation process and begin as early as possible at the policy development stage in order to identify possible environmental effects that are likely to arise from a trade agreement. This tailored approach helps to effectively assess the environmental implications of international trade negotiations, as well as to identify ways to reduce environmental risks and enhance positive environmental outcomes notably through specific provisions in our trade agreements.
The Framework for Conducting EAs of Trade Agreements is a reference document that sets out the objectives, guiding principles, analytical approach and processes to be followed.
Resources
| Name |
Format |
Description |
Link |
| 2020 Revised Framework for Conducting Environmental Assessments of Trade Negotiations - 2021-01-01 |
HTML |
|
https://international.canada.ca/en/services/business/trade/agreements-negotiations/impact-assessments/sustainable/environmental |
| 2020 Revised Framework for Conducting Environmental Assessments of Trade Negotiations - 2021-01-01 |
HTML |
|
https://international.canada.ca/en/services/business/trade/agreements-negotiations/impact-assessments/sustainable/environmental |