Strict accounting with flexible implementation: the first order of business in the next climate treaty

摘要

Earth's atmosphere and the climate regulation it provides are a global commons with nested layers of users (nations, organizations and individuals). Commons are best managed with flexible institutions that can adapt to systemic changes and surprises . When overexploita-tion of the global commons results in degradation of a sustainable resource it becomes "a problem for the collective"'where " individual solutions are inappropriate" .