162
Most of the growth in trade value, volume and complexity occurred in the last
couple of decades only. According to Richard Baldwin, possibly the most infl uential
change over the last 20 years was the international movement of fi rm-specifi c knowhow (Baldwin 2013 ). Changes in both technology and legislation have made it easier for multinational companies to exchange knowledge and coordinate internal
processes, enabling them to quickly respond to changing demands and ramp up
production capacities in varying locations. Some large multinational companies,
such as Apple, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell or IBM, have market values that
are comparable or exceed the GDP of countries such as Belgium, Switzerland,
Sweden, Norway or Saudi Arabia. Therefore, with respect to international production and consumption, national borders might not be as infl uential as they seem.
2 Impacts of Trade: New Insights from Recent Research
2.1 Taking a Consumption-Based Perspective: What Are
Impacts Embodied in Trade?
Two words in this question require further explanation: ‘impacts’ and ‘embodied’.
The term ‘impact’ is used here in a very wide sense, comprising both pressure and
impact indicators as defi ned by the causal DPSIR framework (Driving ForcesPressures- State-Impacts-Responses) that describes interactions between society
and the environment.
2 Environmental pressures include the use of resources, such as
land, water or materials as well as the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) or pollutants. In the stricter defi nition provided by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) standards (ISO 2006 ; Hellweg et al. 2014 ), environmental impacts represent the (actual
or potential) damage exerted by pressures, e.g. global warming, toxicity or biodiversity loss. Especially in the context of international trade, the expression environmental ‘burden’ or ‘load’ has been used as well as ‘burden shifting’ (e.g. Giljum and
Eisenmenger 2008 ; Schütz et al. 2004 ; Zhang et al. 2013 ) or ‘displacement of pressures’ (e.g. Steen-Olsen et al. 2012 ) to describe the change of location where environmental pressures or impacts occur when resources from other countries are used
indirectly through trade. For social and economic indicators, the distinction between
pressures and impacts is less well defi ned. For the sake of simplicity, the term
‘impact’ has been used for all indicators in this chapter (see also Table 8.1 ).
The word ‘embodied’ describes indirect impacts that can be ‘attributed to’, are
‘associated with’ or are ‘embedded in’ activities that are not directly linked to the
impacts. In the context of trade, consuming a product in one country can lead to
impacts in many other countries, depending on where the production and supply
chain processes occur that are required to produce the fi nal consumer product. All
2 Retrieved February 23, 2015 from http://root-devel.ew.eea.europa.eu/ia2dec/knowledge_base/
Frameworks/doc101182
T. Wiedmann
Most of the growth in trade value, volume and complexity occurred in the last
couple of decades only. According to Richard Baldwin, possibly the most infl uential
change over the last 20 years was the international movement of fi rm-specifi c knowhow (Baldwin 2013 ). Changes in both technology and legislation have made it easier for multinational companies to exchange knowledge and coordinate internal
processes, enabling them to quickly respond to changing demands and ramp up
production capacities in varying locations. Some large multinational companies,
such as Apple, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell or IBM, have market values that
are comparable or exceed the GDP of countries such as Belgium, Switzerland,
Sweden, Norway or Saudi Arabia. Therefore, with respect to international production and consumption, national borders might not be as infl uential as they seem.
2 Impacts of Trade: New Insights from Recent Research
2.1 Taking a Consumption-Based Perspective: What Are
Impacts Embodied in Trade?
Two words in this question require further explanation: ‘impacts’ and ‘embodied’.
The term ‘impact’ is used here in a very wide sense, comprising both pressure and
impact indicators as defi ned by the causal DPSIR framework (Driving ForcesPressures- State-Impacts-Responses) that describes interactions between society
and the environment.
2 Environmental pressures include the use of resources, such as
land, water or materials as well as the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) or pollutants. In the stricter defi nition provided by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) standards (ISO 2006 ; Hellweg et al. 2014 ), environmental impacts represent the (actual
or potential) damage exerted by pressures, e.g. global warming, toxicity or biodiversity loss. Especially in the context of international trade, the expression environmental ‘burden’ or ‘load’ has been used as well as ‘burden shifting’ (e.g. Giljum and
Eisenmenger 2008 ; Schütz et al. 2004 ; Zhang et al. 2013 ) or ‘displacement of pressures’ (e.g. Steen-Olsen et al. 2012 ) to describe the change of location where environmental pressures or impacts occur when resources from other countries are used
indirectly through trade. For social and economic indicators, the distinction between
pressures and impacts is less well defi ned. For the sake of simplicity, the term
‘impact’ has been used for all indicators in this chapter (see also Table 8.1 ).
The word ‘embodied’ describes indirect impacts that can be ‘attributed to’, are
‘associated with’ or are ‘embedded in’ activities that are not directly linked to the
impacts. In the context of trade, consuming a product in one country can lead to
impacts in many other countries, depending on where the production and supply
chain processes occur that are required to produce the fi nal consumer product. All
2 Retrieved February 23, 2015 from http://root-devel.ew.eea.europa.eu/ia2dec/knowledge_base/
Frameworks/doc101182
T. Wiedmann