history
Early years: emerging environment debate in GATT/WTO
Trade and environment, as an issue, is by no means new. The link between trade and environmental protection both the impact of environmental policies on trade, and the impact of trade on the environment was recognized as early as 1970.
Growing international concern about the impact of economic growth on social development and the environment led to a call for an international conference on how to manage the human environment. The 1972 Stockholm Conference was the response.
The 1971 GATT study
In 1972, the UN held a Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. During the preparations in 1971, the Secretariat of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was asked to make a contribution.