By Ranil Senanayake –
Dr. Ranil Senanayake
The Identification and Mobilization of the Standing Stock in the Global Commons for Planetary Environmental Renewal
The hypothesis that ‘what is unowned is un-marketed, what is un-marketed is under- priced, what is underpriced is mismanaged, overused and wasted’, has provided the underpinning of the market economy. However, a partial recognition of reality has enabled a flawed operation of this dictum causing the environment to become increasingly hostile to living things. A case in point is the ownership of forest lands. Where ownership was exercised, forests were owned by the communities who lived in and around them, unless there was a centralized command system such as organized kingdoms in which case forests were owned by the king. Today the right of such communities has been assumed by governments. Given the present Geopolitik, it is highly unlikely that any nation will surrender a perceived opportunity to exercise ‘ownership’ – Especially if it was a resource.
Following this dictum, it means that all resources that can be seen to emanate from within a given geopolitical boundary, can be claimed by that state. A classic case in point are the Cycling Atmospheric Gasses (CAGs). These gasses Nitrogen, Oxygen, Xenon, Carbon Dioxide, and the minor gasses are all in an uniform mix in the atmosphere over all nations. However, there is no equity in the recognition and evaluation of national production. To set price, there will have to be a recognition of a Standing Global Stock (SGS) of the CAG’s. All Countries have a great amount to gain in the recognition of an international Ownership of these cycling atmospheric gasses which in essence constitutes the the Global Commons of air. The Global Commons being those areas or regions which are outside the exclusive jurisdiction of nation states and requires common governance and management by the international community.
The CAG’s such as Oxygen or Carbon Dioxide have been produced over ages by all the countries of the world and by seas and continents of the past. The production homogenized by the global cycles into the global pool. Being ‘a resource which requires common governance and management by the international community’, the global stock of gasses today could form the capital to construct a real development bank. Its function being to keep sustaining the value of the global commons of air and maintaining agreed management goals for the global stock.
The national gain by subscribing to the concept of SGS will be illustrated using the case of atmospheric Oxygen. Atmospheric oxygen (O2) is the most crucial element on earth for the aerobic organisms. They depend on it to release energy from carbon-based macromolecules. A new study to systematically analyse the global O2 budget and its changes over the past 100 years found that anthropogenic fossil fuel combustion is the largest contributor to the current O2 deficit, which consumed 2.0 Gt/a in 1900 and has increased to 38.2 Gt/a by 2015. In the light of the global stock of free Oxygen in the atmosphere which is about 1.2×1015 tonnes (12,000,000,000,000,000 t) , this may seem small but it is being increasingly impacted by fossil combustion causing a demonstrable and irreversible decline of atmospheric O2. It is time to take actions to promote O2 production and reduce O2 consumption.
The current stock of 1.2×1015 tonnes can very easily and very importantly be established as the critical standing stock. This is because we humans need an Oxygen concentration of around 21 % for healthy living. The maintenance of this level must become an international responsibility. Perhaps, If the ownership of this volume is controlled by a bank or other international entity that can buy or sell stock so that the baseload is not depleted. In other words, the standing stock is not up for negotiation or sale, only the production and consumption at a country level is tradable. For example, country A with a dense vegetation cover provides a tons of oxygen per annum to their credit while a country B with similar vegetation cover but burns a large volume of fossil use can only claim the net production of oxygen (nP) after subtracting their fossil consumption. The amount that each country will have for negotiating with the Bank is based upon the net production (nP) of oxygen to the Standing Global Stock (SGS). The net production is calculated by subtracting annual consumption (C), which is a sum of Industrial and domestic consumption (I) plus natural respiration (R) minus the total country production (tP). Such that: nP= tP- C.
If the net production is positive the country gains from the SGS and is paid by the bank if the net production is negative then the country owes the Bank as this represents a drawdown from the SGS. In practice this system will bring a more equitable use of global resources and incorporates the ‘user pays’ principle fully.
Notes:
1. The recognition of the Global Stock of CAG’s as being distinct from national stocks will enable the structuring of a financial instrument that can support the current international institution building process.
2. The current levels of the global stock has been well established by scientific research.
3. The rates of exchange and transfer dynamics of the CAG’s are well identified so that the auditing of national contributions and drawdown are easily established.
4. The recognition of the value of the global pool creates new capital stock for the global economy.
