consumer) and supplied (by the producer). In simple terms an exchange or
transaction takes place between producer and consumer. With private goods
such exchange is commonplace, and the market is seen as ‘the most efficient way
of producing private goods’.
‘Public goods’, such as nature’s ‘goods and services’, are quite different. Unlike
private goods, public goods are rarely the sole preserve of a single producer or
consumer, and usually do not fit well within the market mechanism (although one
could argue that this has changed, for example with the advent of carbon trading
under the Kyoto Protocol). Public goods are viewed as existing along a spectrum
from pure to impure public goods. Pure public goods are non-excludable — access
to the good is open to all — and non-rivalrous — the quantity of the good provided
cannot be diminished in character. However, in practice, pure public goods are
rare; very few goods have unlimited access, and even fewer have an infinite level of
supply. In reality, most fall along a spectrum from pure to impure (that is, they
possess the attributes of non-exclusion and non-rivalry to a lesser degree, or
possess a combination of them).
Spatial and temporal dimensions are fundamental to any discussion on
environmental issues, and this is no different when considering the notion of the
environment as public good for health.* If the benefits of a public good are to be
seen as global in scale — a global public good (GPG) — then the good must not only
display non-exclusive and non-rivalrous characteristics, but must also be
quasi-universal. To fulfil the latter requirement the good must be of benefit in
three tempero-spatial and socio-economic dimensions:
E Countries — a GPG must cover more than one geographical region.
Otherwise it would be a regional public good, and possibly a club good (that
is, a good with excludable benefits)
E Socio-economic groups — a GPG must be accessible to all socio-economic
segments. That is, a GPG must benefit a broad spectrum of the global
population
E Generations — a GPG must meet the needs of present generations without
jeopardizing those of future generations
One way of visualizing this difficult conceptualization of the environment as a
global public good for health is shown in Figure 3.
Dealing with Uncertainty
Environmental public goods represent a paradox, as their attributes are easier to
recognize and discuss when they begin to lose their public good status. More
I. Kaul, I. Grunberg and M. A. Stern (eds.), Global Public Goods: International Co-operation in the
21st Century, Oxford University Press, 1999.
A. J. McMichael, C. D. Butler and M. J. Ahern in Providing Global Public Goods: Making
Globalisation Work for All, ed. United Nations Development Program, in press.
S. J. Buck, Environ. Ethics, 1985, 7, 49.
* Environment refers to the ‘goods and services’ that the biophysical environment provides, and how
these are beneficial to human health.
Global Environmental Changes and Human Health
157
transaction takes place between producer and consumer. With private goods
such exchange is commonplace, and the market is seen as ‘the most efficient way
of producing private goods’.
‘Public goods’, such as nature’s ‘goods and services’, are quite different. Unlike
private goods, public goods are rarely the sole preserve of a single producer or
consumer, and usually do not fit well within the market mechanism (although one
could argue that this has changed, for example with the advent of carbon trading
under the Kyoto Protocol). Public goods are viewed as existing along a spectrum
from pure to impure public goods. Pure public goods are non-excludable — access
to the good is open to all — and non-rivalrous — the quantity of the good provided
cannot be diminished in character. However, in practice, pure public goods are
rare; very few goods have unlimited access, and even fewer have an infinite level of
supply. In reality, most fall along a spectrum from pure to impure (that is, they
possess the attributes of non-exclusion and non-rivalry to a lesser degree, or
possess a combination of them).
Spatial and temporal dimensions are fundamental to any discussion on
environmental issues, and this is no different when considering the notion of the
environment as public good for health.* If the benefits of a public good are to be
seen as global in scale — a global public good (GPG) — then the good must not only
display non-exclusive and non-rivalrous characteristics, but must also be
quasi-universal. To fulfil the latter requirement the good must be of benefit in
three tempero-spatial and socio-economic dimensions:
E Countries — a GPG must cover more than one geographical region.
Otherwise it would be a regional public good, and possibly a club good (that
is, a good with excludable benefits)
E Socio-economic groups — a GPG must be accessible to all socio-economic
segments. That is, a GPG must benefit a broad spectrum of the global
population
E Generations — a GPG must meet the needs of present generations without
jeopardizing those of future generations
One way of visualizing this difficult conceptualization of the environment as a
global public good for health is shown in Figure 3.
Dealing with Uncertainty
Environmental public goods represent a paradox, as their attributes are easier to
recognize and discuss when they begin to lose their public good status. More
I. Kaul, I. Grunberg and M. A. Stern (eds.), Global Public Goods: International Co-operation in the
21st Century, Oxford University Press, 1999.
A. J. McMichael, C. D. Butler and M. J. Ahern in Providing Global Public Goods: Making
Globalisation Work for All, ed. United Nations Development Program, in press.
S. J. Buck, Environ. Ethics, 1985, 7, 49.
* Environment refers to the ‘goods and services’ that the biophysical environment provides, and how
these are beneficial to human health.
Global Environmental Changes and Human Health
157