Transcript The Environment - University of Maine System

The
Environment
A Global Collective Goods
Problem
Protecting the Global
Environment

A Collective Goods Problem: “The problem of how
to provide something that benefits all members
regardless of what each contributes to it”
(Goldstein and Pevehouse 2014, p.4)

It is difficult to get states to cooperate to protect
the “global commons” (e.g. shared part of the
earth, such as the oceans and space).

Tragedy of the Commons: Watch this 3 minute
video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLirNeu-A8I

Key Question: If everyone wants to protect the
environment, why is it so difficult to achieve?

Answer: There are strong incentives to “free ride”---all states
rationalize that they would rather let someone else bear the
burden of environmental regulation. Without a global
government, states cannot be certain that other members
will contribute their fair share to the common goal or
‘public good’.

International agreements to protect the environment rely
on voluntary compliance. It is difficult for states to agree on
who should bear what costs of environmental protection
and preservation.
.

While cooperation has not been easy to achieve,
and we still face many roadblocks, there have
been some notable achievements toward
internationally shared environmental goals

States have established international institutions to
work toward greater cooperation on
environmental issues

Important examples: The Commission on
Sustainable Development; the UN Environment
Program; The International Whaling Commission
 In
addition to international institutions,
states have also been able to reach some
agreements over how to work collectively
to protect and preserve our global
environment through international treaties
and protocols.
 The
Kyoto Protocol and the Montreal
Protocol are the most well-known
The Kyoto Protocol

An amendment to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change, adopted in 1997
and entered into force in 2005, that establishes
specific targets for reducing emissions of carbon
dioxide and five other gasses (Frieden et al. 2010).

The United States signed the treaty, but the U.S.
Congress did not ratify it. Therefore the U.S. is not a
party to Kyoto. However, 160 other countries have
signed and ratified this agreement to reduce their
carbon dioxide emissions.
The Montreal Protocol

Goal: To reduce the emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
gasses, which deplete the ozone layer.

In 1987 22 countries agreed to reduce CFC emissions by 50%

As scientific evidence mounted and demonstrated severe
depletion to the ozone layer, the Montreal Protocol was revisited
and strengthened in 1992.

By 1996 rich countries stopped making CFCs!

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan declared the Montreal Protocol
to be “perhaps the single most successful international agreement
to date.”

Efforts to reach international agreements to
address climate change continue…although
sometimes at a painstakingly slow pace.

Recent UN Climate Change Conferences in
Copenhagen and Warsaw have failed to
reach a comprehensive solution to replace
and advance the Kyoto agreement.

In 2011 at a conference in South Africa, 195
states agreed to extend Kyoto until 2017.
Green Climate Fund

At the sixteenth session of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), held in Cancun, Mexico, the participating
states decided to establish the Green Climate Fund.

The Green Climate Fund aims to disperse $100 million
dollars to developing countries to help them adapt
to international environmental regulations.

http://www.gcfund.org/home.html