ABSTRACT
Contemporary environmental policy is torn between a corporate-led attempt to privatize the commons, and efforts to build a vibrant public domain capable of governing the commons in a more democratic, equitable and ecologically sustainable manner. To date, it is the former political project, which has prevailed. The ‘tragedy of the commons’, i.e., the destruction of collective assets, such as eco-systems, through the pursuit of private gain, continues unabated while the institutions capable of defending the environmental commons against new enclosures and encroachments are being systematically weakened.
