Environmental infrastructure development for Yunnan Urban Environment Project in China

Remediation and nature and landscape protection services are segments of the
environmental services sector. Remediation services entail the cleanup of soil and
water environments after contamination has occurred, while nature and landscape
protection services involve the prevention or mitigation of future soil and water
contamination as well as the protection of soil and water ecosystems. This report
provides an overview of U.S. and foreign markets for remediation and nature and
landscape protection services; examines trade and investment in remediation and
nature and landscape protection services markets, including barriers affecting such
trade and investment; and discusses existing regulatory practices. Information is
presented on both developed- and developing-country markets.

It was presumed that the passage of NAFTA would stimulate considerable growth in markets for environmental goods and services in Mexico, and the rapid development of an environmental industry in Mexico. This paper quantifies the growth and evolution of environmental market in Mexico since 1995, and characterizes the contribution of imports and Mexico’s own environmental industry. NAFTA has not brought proportionally more pollution to Mexico as many feared, but it is gradually bringing higher standards of environmental performance due to the influx of multinational firms operating under their own guidelines. The challenge is to turn these standards into the norm rather than the exception, and working with Mexican authorities to apply similar standards to their environmental infrastructure.