Epstein, Paul R. 2000. "Common Pool Funds for Common Pool Resources: Creating a New Global Financial Architecture." Presented at "Constituting the Commons: Crafting Sustainable Commons in the New Millennium", the Eighth Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Bloomington, Indiana, USA, May 31-June 4.

Abstract

"Financial mechanisms to secure rational use of Common Pool Resources (CPRs) are rarely addressed. While implementation plans and Governance structures remain difficult issues, funds and incentives may be needed to achieve measures agreed upon in international conventions.

"Resources and incentives may be key to securing the participation of economic and political interests in achieving the goals of the conventions on CPRs, such as those on fisheries, forests, wetlands, water and climate.

"This session will address the role of incentives, subsidies and funds, as well as the potential sources of taxing common activities, such as levies on air travel, the Internet, carbon emissions and international currency transactions.

"Discussion of the financial architecture to support healthy and sustainable development will include the following areas:

A) The regulatory framework;

B) The institutional framework (e.g., the Global Environmental Facility The World Bank, UNEP, UNDP);

C) Financial incentives, helpful subsidies and international funds to 'jump-start' infant industries (such as those producing clean energy sources, energy-efficient technologies, methods for ecological restoration, compensation for changed professions).

"Funds were a key element in securing universal participation in the Montreal Protocol to phase out stratospheric Ozone-depleting chemicals. Regulations and institutional arrangements complemented by economic incentives may provide the necessary framework to secure active participation of developed and developing nations in conventions to preserve Common Pool Resources."