To what extent are International trade and the protection of the environment related, with
respect to Trinidad and Tobago?
By Denzil Rajack-Prayag
Introduction
The emerging challenge is to examine how State-operated environmental institutions such as the
Environmental Management Authority (EMA), incorporate the notion of environmental
protection based on the premise of democratic participation. It includes the implementation of
legal principles, public consultation and participation in decisions involving environmental
consequences.
International trade is the exchange of goods and services along international borders which
attracts greater competition and more competitive pricing in the market. The exchange of goods
and services in the oil and gas sector positively affects Trinidad’s economy, since it is the main
contributor to the country’s gross domestic product. Multinational Corporations such as British
Petroleum Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT) and Atlantic LNG Company of Trinidad and Tobago
(ALNG) are main avenues for international trade and have propelled economic development.
These multinational corporations (MNC’s) are registered and operate in numerous countries by
producing and selling petrochemical goods. The country is an important trading partner with the
United States of America as it is the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to that
nation, contributing to more than 65% of USA LNG imports.58
Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural surroundings on individual,
organizational or governmental levels, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans.59
Due to the construction and expansion of petrochemical plants through invitation to trade
the biophysical environment is being degraded and heavily polluted. This has been an occurrence
at Galeota Point and Guapo Bay where bpTT and ALNG are situated respectively.
58
Central Intelligence Agency “Trinidad and Tobago” CIA- World Factbook
URL:https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html (accessed Janury,21st. 2008)
59
World Summit for Sustainable Development/Rio Plus 10.
44