Abstract

This paper examines the effectiveness of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) and its impact on the environmental conditions in the North American region resulting from increased trade activity driven by NAFTA. An initial review of international regime theories facilitates the assessment of the political effectiveness of the regime in solving the problems that originated its creation. This is followed by a review of contemporary ecosystem-based regime theories, as well as the links between liberalized trade and the environment to complement the analysis. An emphasis is placed on the ideological underpinnings dominating the trade-environment debate, by decomposing the neoliberal discourse behind the pro-trade position. A political economy approach in the understanding of the origins of environmental problems provides support for the argument that the free market ideology behind NAAEC is in direct contradiction with the concept of sustainability, making it impossible for the regime to meet the criteria for ecological effectiveness. It is further argued that the structural and power deficiencies inherited from the negotiation process hinder the effectiveness of the regime. This paper makes a case for increased public participation in the decision-making mechanisms of NAAEC as a necessary condition to counterbalance the excess political power of the trade elites.