So I will talk about troubling, depressing, mixed and hopeful things. So, on the troubling front. Some but not all but some of the alarms that were raised ten years ago by environmental groups about the impacts of trade policies have come true. It is fair to say that the rules have been extended in ways that were perhaps not anticipated. What was once a last-resort tool for corporations that were truly aggrieved by governments has now become a tool of first course.
Governments know that there is a problem with the way investment policy now works.
They are stuck on how to move forward. Similarly there is evidence that liberalizing trade in an export-driven model does not work. There is the simple fact of the disparity between income and increasing environmental damage and we can now look at how market liberalization can contribute to this in a more rigorous way. I was heartened by the rhetoric from both ministers Anderson and Pettigrew earlier. Both contained good words but continued the mantra of trade equals growth equals prosperity equals good for the environment.