This paper analyses a number of outcomes that the increase in the social demand for a higher environmental quality may have on the patterns of spatial specialization, irrespective of the scale of analysis. This paper aims at exploring how, together with new possibilities for backward regions, some sub-optimal solutions can also be found from a social viewpoint. On the other hand, we reflect on how an efficient allocation of resources (internalising environmental considerations), could well be incompatible with the dismantling of protectionism within the agricultural sectors of developed countries. The impact on biological diversity is specifically studied.