Global Commodity Chain Sustainability Analysis: An analytic framework for assessing ecological impacts of commodity supply chains and appropriate policy responses

With the expansion of international trade over the past century, the importance of businessto-business relationships in determining environmental outcomes of market activity has grown monumentally. Increased inter-dependency among corporate actors in the processing, manufacturing and distribution of products has led to more disciplined supply chain relations which, when taken as a whole, increasingly mimic the governance systems of corporations themselves. Direct and explicit attention to the structure of such relations promises to be an important element of effective environmental management within the context of global commodity chains.