ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines Elinor Ostroms understanding of the global environmental crisis and examines her critique of panaceas and other reasons for environmental policy failure, social-ecological systems and her approach to climate change policy. It is based on the assumption that environmental sustainability is vital for promoting economic welfare and environmental policies be used to promote economic growth. Thomas Malthus argues for centralised control and authoritarian solutions. Ecology is the study of relationships between species within a wider environment. Marco Janssen noted the contrast between indigenous and Canadian government attempts to manage caribou stocks: Users of the aboriginal system do not search for a way of controlling the caribou by developing a self-conscious estimate of herd size and hunting limits. Technological change made discussion of the commons more relevant and her work can be applied to the economics of cyberspace and information.
