ABSTRACT

Traditionally, quotas have been used as simple means to ends. If the end is to cut back on emissions, a quota system allows parties the means to coordinate their efforts. More recently, however, target numbers have come to be treated as ends, independently justified. The target quantifies desired values, set to provide at least a minimum level of security. Such target systems allow each party to choose the means of national implementation. In negotiation, it is recognized that the ‘value’ of a resource is multi-faceted and not easily computed using the tools of a single discipline, such as economics or ecology. This means that cooperating parties must decide how much each value a resource can produce. For example, whales today are valued by some for meat, by others for educational or commercial benefits from whale-watching, and by still others for the knowledge that their grandchildren might see a live whale. Rules negotiated on the basis of target numbers that capture multi-faceted values represent an emerging type of management system, one based on constrained local quotas (CLQs).