The idea was novel at the time: tying the environment to a trade pact. But two decades on, the environmental side accord to the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) is showing its age. Though the trinational environmental side accord has spurred regional efforts to address habitat loss, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, Nafta signatories Mexico, Canada and the United States have resisted one of its central elements. At issue is a mechanism allowing citizens—individuals or groups—to file complaints alleging a government’s failure to enforce its environmental laws, says Gustavo Alanís Ortega, an environmental lawyer in Mexico City. The result of the complaints—if they pass through all the steps of a laborious procedure—is a factual record of the case. Though the... [Log in to read more]