Global commons – local solutions

by Martin Auer

In her article “Revisiting the Commons” from 19991, Elinor Ostrom emphasizes (see also the contributions here. and here.) that experiences from sustainably managed local commons cannot be transferred one-to-one to global commons such as the atmosphere or the world's oceans. Traditional commons are often based on centuries-long processes of trial and error. In the event of a failure, people have previously been able to turn to other resources. Since we only have one earth, this is not possible for us globally.

What can be learned from strategies of successful commons? Surely eight billion people can't gather in a village square to hammer out rules. It is the states that send their representatives to the negotiating table. The fact that negotiations and international agreements like the Paris Agreement exist is unprecedented in human history. Also that there are scientific bodies recognized by all states, such as the International Climate Council IPCC or the World Biodiversity Council IPBES extension.

But the representatives who negotiate there must also be accountable to those they represent so that they can be trusted. Government negotiating teams tend to prioritize short-term policy gains over true sustainability by driving home an outcome favorable to the domestic economy. Independent organizations like ClimateWatch or Climate Action Tracker check how effective the promises of the individual states are, how credible they are and to what extent they are ultimately kept. But we also need a public that uses such control options and holds its representatives accountable when necessary.

It should be clear that global problems cannot be overcome without the findings of science. But the negotiators who draw up the rules must also take into account the knowledge and experiences of those they represent.

At the global level, not only do rules need to be developed, but it also needs to be ensured that the rules are broken as little as possible. There must be the possibility of sanctions. Experience from traditional commons shows that most people will follow the rules as long as they are sure that most people will follow the rules.

Transparency is essential for the sustainable management of commons. Even if not everyone can know everything about everyone, the possibility of control must be present. Large players such as corporations in particular must be controllable. To ensure transparency, it is not enough that I can obtain information - I have to understand it. Education systems must impart environmental knowledge as broadly as possible.

Why us?

The first hurdle in getting to any joint action is often the question: Why should I, why should we start? Even the efforts to bring the others to the negotiating table are expensive.

At both the global and local level, winning with video can be an incentive to take the first step. Many measures that reduce greenhouse gas emissions - from which the entire world population benefits - also have a benefit for the local population and their own state, state or local coffers. Greening cities with trees and parks binds CO2, but also improves the microclimate in the city. Restrictions on internal combustion engines not only reduce CO2 emissions, but also local air pollution from particulate matter. This saves immense costs in the healthcare system. Two billion people on earth heat and cook with wood, dung and the like and suffer from air pollution within their homes. Electrifying these households - or even equipping them with gas stoves - reduces deforestation and thus soil erosion and saves enormous costs for diseases of the respiratory system and eyes. Economical, precisely calculated use of artificial fertilizers saves money, slows down the destruction of natural soil fertility and reduces emissions of nitrous oxide, a particularly potent greenhouse gas.

However, some economic incentives are questionable. When countries invest in the development of renewable energy to gain market leadership in new technologies, this can lead to competition, which in turn results in the over-exploitation of resources, both energy and raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, bauxite (aluminum) and others.

All of these carbon benefits can be an impetus to start taking climate action regardless of what others are doing. If I get on a bike instead of a car, the impact on the climate is minimal - but the impact on my health is immediately noticeable.

Multilevel governance

An important finding from Elinor Ostrom's research is that large commons can be managed through nested institutions, i.e. through mergers of smaller commons. Decisions are not made by the highest authority. Information and decisions flow from bottom to top and from top to bottom. The task of the higher authorities is, above all, to bring together the concerns of the lower authorities and to create the conditions for the work of the lower authorities.

Global commons and local solutions

Preserving forests as carbon stores is of global interest in preventing absolute climate catastrophe. However, “any single formal law designed to govern a large territory with diverse ecological niches is bound to fail in many of the habitats to which it is intended to apply,”2 Ostrom wrote in 1999. The best “guardians of the forest “ are the people who know him because they live there. Protecting these forests from deforestation, destruction through mining, land grabbing, etc. is in their immediate interest. State and supranational institutions should, above all, guarantee the right of these communities to self-organize and give them the support they need to do so.

Slowing down soil sealing in Austria is a national – and ultimately also a global – concern. But the problems vary from region to region, from community to community.

Maintaining soil quality in agriculture requires different measures and local cooperation depending on the landscape.

Energy saving measures can be negotiated in house communities, village communities, districts or at city level. The design of private and public transport is a question of spatial planning, which encounters different conditions everywhere.

At all of these levels, between the two extremes – leaving regulation to the market or transferring it to central state authority – there is a third option: the self-organization of the commons.

PS: The city of Vienna has Elinor Ostrom Park in the 22nd district dedicated

Cover image: Public Domain via Rawpixel

Footnotes:

1 Ostrom, Elinor et al. (1999): Revisiting the Commons: Local Lessons, Global Challenges. In: Science 284, pp. 278–282. DOI: 10.1126/science.284.5412.278.

2 Ostrom, Elinor (1994): Neither Market nor State: Governance of Common-Pool Resources in the Twenty-First Century. Washington DC Online: https://ebrary.ifpri.org/utils/getfile/collection/p15738coll2/id/126712/filename/126923.pdf