In his article "Environmental Policy in the New World Economy," Alan Miller discusses the environmental implications of globalization. Recognizing that the flow of international private capital to developing countries is far more significant than international development assistance, he questions how we can use public policy to maximize the positive environmental effects of private investment. Miller suggests the need to find strategies that utilize market forces to benefit the environment.

This article heeds Alan Miller's call by suggesting new approaches to thinking about the potential for the World Trade Organization (WTO) to play a positive environmental role.

In this article, my specific concern is the role of the WTO (the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) in regulating process and production methods (PPM's). I make the argument that the organization would be a uniquely effective forum for coordinating and enforcing harmonized global standards in such areas as clean air, clean water, hazardous waste, occupational health and safety, and natural resource preservation.