Enoch Ndem Okon, Victor Ojakorotu and S.P.I. Agi

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-7092.2019.08.147

Published: 31 December 2019

Abstract: The paper analyses the socio-environmental costs of International Trade in Nigeria, Chile and Iraq as archetypes of Developing Countries (DCs): while Nigeria and Iraq are major Crude Oil producers in Africa and Asia, Chile is a major Solid Mineral exporter in Latin America. It seeks to unveil the relationship between international trade and socio-environmental challenges in these countries, as well as identifies the bearer of cost implications of these challenges, as part of the uncalculated costs of production and distribution of goods and services in international trade. The study adopts the Theories of Unequal Exchange, and Ecologically Unequal Exchange. Secondary data were widely used for the study. It identifies the imperatives of international trade as the source of environmental pollution, and social conflicts which destroy the means of livelihood of the local population, and engender poverty and underdevelopment. The study recommends the domestication of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention, Article 169 by all Developing Countries involved in resources extraction, as well as the inclusion of socio-environmental costs in Trade and Investment Agreements in order to safeguard the interest of the local population, and future generations.

Keywords: International trade, socio-environmental costs, Nigeria, Chile, Iraq.

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