Executive Summary

CIPMA is an independent research center recognized by the Chilean Academy of Sciences which since 1979 has been conducting research in areas related to sustainable development.  Since 1996 we have been pursuing a line of research in trade and the environment. We currently participate actively in national and international fora, and we are working in conjunction with organization in various countries of the region.

The Global Environment and Trade Study (GETS) was established in 1994 with the aim of contributing our analysis to the debate on the links between the trade liberalization process and effort to protect the environment, as well as identifying areas in which these two processes reinforce one another. GETS is a joint initiative between Yale University’s Center on Environmental Law and Policy, and the Instituto para la Agricultura y la Política Comercial (IATP), with these two organizations jointly coordinating a team of research associates in different countries. GETS has organized various high-level conferences on trade and the environment in Singapore, London, Geneva, Miami, New York, Tokyo and Seattle, as well as producing numerous publications on this topic.