Number: 1994-10
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation embraces the concept of environmentally sustainable development and includes it implicitly in its mission statement; and
WHEREAS, domestic and international policies which provide opportunities for enhancing economic growth and environmental protection are necessary to promote environmentally sustainable development; and
WHEREAS, international trade is a vital component of domestic and global economic growth, accounting for $4.6 trillion in the worldwide movement of goods and services in 1992 alone; and
WHEREAS, without the proper environmental safeguards, international trade and the rules which govern its activity can act as an impediment to rather than as a component of environmentally sustainable development; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation and other environmental organizations succeeded in incorporating, for the first time, environmental provisions into a trade agreement during negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); and
WHEREAS, the NAFTA, its environmental provisions, and its accompanying environmental agreement will serve as a baseline for acceptable trade agreements in the future; and
WHEREAS, the recently concluded Uruguay Round negotiations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) made minimal progress in integrating environmental safeguards into global trade rules; and
WHEREAS, future international trade agreements will likely unfold between the U.S. and regions such as Asia and Latin America and must include environmental provisions in their negotiation and implementation; and
WHEREAS, domestic trade law also offers opportunities to insert environmental consideration into U.S. trade policy;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 4-6, 1994 in Austin, Texas, calls upon trading nations to give high priority to reform of the international trading system so that trade serves to promote and not inhibit sustainable development; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation calls on the Clinton Administration and the U.S. Congress to continue to pursue environmental issues as a primary pillar of all future U.S. trade negotiations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation calls on the governments of Canada, U.S., and Mexico to initiate the work of the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation (NACEC) in order to assure that trade in North America contributes to environmentally sustainable development; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation calls on the Contracting Parties to the GATT to agree to an environmental reform program, as outlined by the National Wildlife Federation, and establish a permanent place for environmental issues within the newly formed World Trade Organization (WTO); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation calls upon international environmental institutions, including the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation (NACEC), the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), and the IUCN — World Conservation Union, to provide the necessary environmental expertise to guide GATT, NAFTA, and other trade agreements towards policies that support environmentally sustainable development.