ABSTRACT
New institutional economics or “new institutionalism” has informed a significant body of research on local common property arrangements and international environmental conventions. The new institutional research on environmental governance has been phenomenally successful in terms of its volume growth and policy impact. The atmospheric sinks for greenhouse gases (GHGs) can be conceptualized as a common-pool resource not unlike a pasture or an aquifer. These sinks are stock resources, which have a limited capacity to provide a flow of sink services. The challenges of governing atmospheric GHG sinks are also shaped by the attributes of their users. User attributes determine the starting point for collective action aimed at establishing or modifying governance institutions, shape the costs and prospects of acting collectively, and influence what governance solutions can be agreed upon. The economies of nation states also exhibit different degrees of complexity, which affects their vulnerability to climate change impacts.
