Regimes

Regimes over
over the
the Environment:
Environment:
Governance
Governance of
of Global
Global Commons
Commons
Prepared
Prepared by:
by:
DORHEA
DORHEA KRISTHA
KRISTHA G.
G. SANTOS
SANTOS

GERLYN D. GUTIERREZ-BETITA, DBA, Ph.D.

Professor
As the world becomes more
interdependent, global governance,
including global economic governance
and the governance of the global
commons, is increasingly relevant for
achieving sustainable development.
Global governance and governance of the
global commons in the global partnership
for development
• Yet, government policies and
international arrangements for
collective decision making have not
kept pace with these changes.
Global Commons
– those resource domains that do not
fall within the jurisdiction of any one
particular country, and to which all
nations have access
– International law identifies four
global commons, namely the High
Seas, the Atmosphere, the Antarctica
and the Outer Space
Global Commons
– Resources of interest or value to the
welfare of the community of nations – such
as tropical rain forests and biodiversity -
have lately been included among the
traditional set of global commons as well
– Some define the global commons even
more broadly, including science, education,
information and peace
Global Commons are:
– non-excludable
– Subtractable
– individual utility of each additional
use is greater than the disutility of
overuse, which is shared by all.
Tragedy of the Commons
• “Each man is locked into a system that
compels him to increase his herd
without limit in a world that is limited.
Ruin is the destination toward which
all men rush…”
(Hardin 1968)
The international community
acknowledges the need to conserve
these resource domains for
development and human well-
being, and has adopted a number of
conventions and treaties to govern
global commons.
 The global commons can fall under governance systems of three
general kinds:

- world government 
- extended national jurisdiction 
- restricted common property
Management of the Global Commons

• Several environmental protocols have

been established as a type of
international law.
• International environmental protocols
came to feature in environmental
governance after trans-boundary
environmental problems became
widely perceived in the 1960s
List of International Environmental Agreements

General
• Aarhus Convention on Access to
Information, Public Participation in
Decision-making and Access to Justice
in Environmental Matters, Aarhus, 1998
• Espoo Convention on Environmental
Impact Assessment in a Transboundary
Context, Espoo, 1991
List of International Environmental Agreements

Atmosphere
• Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air
Pollution (LRTAP), Geneva, 1979
• Environmental Protection: Aircraft Engine
Emissions, Annex 16, vol. 2 to the Chicago
Convention on International Civil Aviation,
Montreal 1981
• Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), New York, 1992, including the Kyoto
Protocol, 1997, and the Paris Agreement, 2015
List of International Environmental Agreements

Atmosphere
• Georgia Basin-Puget Sound International
Airshed Strategy, Vancouver, Statement of
Intent, 2002[7]
• U.S.-Canada Air Quality Agreement (bilateral
U.S.-Canadian agreement on acid rain), 1986
• Vienna Convention for the Protection of the
Ozone Layer, Vienna, 1985, including the
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete
the Ozone Layer, Montreal 1987
List of International Environmental Agreements

Freshwater resources
• Convention on the Protection and
Use of Transboundary Watercourses
and International Lakes (ECE Water
Convention), Helsinki, 1992
List of International Environmental Agreements

Hazardous substances
• Convention on Civil Liability for Damage Caused
during Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road, Rail,
and Inland Navigation Vessels (CRTD), Geneva, 1989
• Convention on the Control of Transboundary
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal,
Basel, 1989
• Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and
the Control of Transboundary Movements and
Management of Hazardous Wastes Within Africa,
Bamako, 1991
List of International Environmental Agreements

Hazardous substances
• Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for
Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in
International Trade, Rotterdam, 1998
• Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial
Accidents, Helsinki, 1992
• European Agreement Concerning the International
Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Inland Waterways (AND),
Geneva, 2000
• European Agreement Concerning the International
Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR), Geneva, 1957
List of International Environmental Agreements

Hazardous substances
• FAO International Code of Conduct on the Distribution
and Use of Pesticides, Rome, 1985
• Minamata Convention on Mercury, Minamata 2013
• Stockholm Convention Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants Stockholm, 2001
• Convention to Ban the Importation into Forum Island
Countries of Hazardous and Radioactive Wastes and
to Control the Transboundary Movement and
Management of Hazardous Wastes within the South
Pacific Region, Waigani, 1995
List of International Environmental Agreements

Marine environment – global conventions

• Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by
Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London
Convention), London, 1972
• International Convention for the Prevention of
Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the
Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78),
London 1973 and 1978
• International Convention for the Prevention of
Pollution of the Sea by Oil, London 1954, 1962 and
1969
List of International Environmental Agreements

Marine environment – global conventions

• International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil
Pollution Damage (CLC), Brussels, 1969, 1976,1984
and 1992
• International Convention on the Establishment of an
International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution
Damage(FUND)1971 and 1992, Brussels, 1971/1992
• International Convention on Liability and
Compensation for Damage in Connection with the
Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by
Sea (HNS), London, 1996
List of International Environmental Agreements

Marine environment – global conventions

• International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness,
Response and Co-operation (OPRC), London, 1990
• International Convention Relating to Intervention on the
High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties
Intervention Convention, Brussels, 1969
• Protocol on Preparedness, Response and Co-operation
to Pollution Incidents by Hazardous and Noxious
Substances OPRC-HNS Protocol, London, 2000
• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea LOS
Convention, Montego Bay, 1982
List of International Environmental Agreements

Nature conservation and terrestrial living

resources
• Antarctic Treaty, Washington DC, 1959
• Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD), Nairobi, 1992
• Convention on the Conservation of
Migratory Species of Wild Animals
(CMS), Bonn, 1979
List of International Environmental Agreements

Nature conservation and terrestrial living resources

• Convention on the International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), Washington
DC, 1973
• Convention on Nature Protection and Wild Life
Preservation in the Western Hemisphere, Washington
DC, 1940
• Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD), Paris,
1994
• FAO International Undertaking on Plant Genetic
Resources, Rome, 1983
List of International Environmental Agreements

Nature conservation and terrestrial living resources

• International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA),
Geneva, 1994
• Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation
of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia
(Raptors MoU)
• Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International
Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat, Ramsar,
1971
• World Heritage Convention Concerning the Protection
of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, Paris, 1972
List of International Environmental Agreements

Noise pollution
• Working Environment (Air Pollution,
Noise and Vibration) Convention,
1977
List of International Environmental Agreements

Nuclear safety
• Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty 1996
• Convention on Assistance in the Case of a
Nuclear Accident or Radiological
Emergency (Assistance Convention),
Vienna, 1986
• Convention on Early Notification of a
Nuclear Accident (Notification
Convention), Vienna, 1986
List of International Environmental Agreements

Nuclear safety
• Convention on Nuclear Safety, Vienna,
1994
• Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests
in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space,
and Under Water
• Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for
Nuclear Damage, Vienna, 1963
Gaps and Challenges
• The frameworks covering the global
commons are complex and fractured.
• Many of the older agreements do not fully
consider the impacts of human activities
on ecosystems and non-target species.
• Numerous new activities do not have
detailed international rules and standards.
Gaps and Challenges
• Modern conservation principles are
not comprehensively incorporated in
the frameworks.
• Governing the global commons
without a world government
empowered to enforce the law,
implies depending largely on ethically
motivated behavior from states.
Escaping the tragedy -- prerequisites for successful management

• Successful management necessitates

that individual strategies of action
are replaced by coordinated action.
• From independent to coordinated
action
Escaping the tragedy -- prerequisites for successful management

The four situations required among appropriators

are: 

- Common understanding of the problem 

- Common understanding of alternatives for
coordination 
- Common perceptions that decision-making costs
do not exceed benefits 
- Common perception of mutual trust and
reciprocity
Principles for global resource commons

1. Understand the resource and its interactions

with users and those affected by its use.
2. Establish independent monitoring of the
resource and its use that is accountable to
the range of interested and affected parties.
3. Ensure meaningful participation of the
parties in framing questions for analysis,
defining the import of scientific results, and
developing rules.
Principles for global resource commons

4. Integrate scientific analysis with broadly

based deliberation.
5. Higher-level actors should facilitate
participation of lower-level actors.
6. Engage and connect a variety of
institutional forms from local to global in
developing rules, monitoring, and
sanctioning.
7. Plan for institutional adaptation and
change.
Conclusion
From common heritage to common
responsibility.

People have to see with new eyes and

understand with new minds before they
can truly turn to new ways of living.
(Commission on Global Governance)
Conclusion
To achieve coherence in global
governance, all three dimensions of
sustainable development – sustainable
economic growth, social inclusion and
protection of the environment and the
global commons – need to be
integrated at the global level.
Thank you!

References:
• Design principles for global commons: natural resources and
emerging technologies (Paul C. Stern, 2011)
• Managing the Global Commons - Applying the Oneness of
Humanity (Sylvia Karlsson)
• Constructing Effective Environmental Regimes (George W.
Downs)
• Institutions and Environmental Cooperation
• Regime Conflicts in Global Environmental Governance (Fariborz
Zelli)
• Thematic Think Piece, OHCHR, OHRLLS, UNDESA, UNEP, UNFPA
• Governing the Commons (Ostrom)
• Tragedy of the Commons (Garnett)