Private Environmental Governance

Abstract Government laws and policies have produced substantial gains in environmental quality, but they have failed to achieve climate mitigation goals. Elinor Ostrom explored how resource users developed nongovernmental institutions to manage natural resources, and she identified design principles for these institutions. However, this private ordering approach relied on small groups with iterative relationships that do not occur in the global and regional settings that drive carbon emissions. This chapter explores the emergence of private environmental governance institutions that function not only at the local level, but also at the global and regional levels. These institutions are not a substitute for government, but they are reducing global carbon emissions. The authors explore the motivations for and effects of private climate governance, the risks and benefits, the sources of opposition to private climate initiatives, the spillover effects on public governance, and emerging principles for improving the design of private governance systems.