Common Property Resources

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Any resource or property, whether material or non material, used by every individual in
the society for the benefit of one and all without having any characteristic feature of “private
ownership” can be known as common property resource. Historically, air, water and other
natural resources cannot be privately owned. This is because it is difficult and in most cases it is
impossible to exclude people from the usage of these resources. No market exists for air where
sellers with profit incentive can charge consumers for its use. Common ownership may be better
characterized effectively as no ownership. All natural resources are publicly owned and one
cannot claim ownership of these resources. At the same time everyone intends to use or exploit
these resources according to the whims and fancies of the person. The abuse of common
property resource and the connected evils cannot be considered as a factor for converting the
common property resource into a private property. This is neither possible nor feasible, due to
the peculiar characteristic features of natural resources.

Characteristic features
1. Non-Excludability: One of the most peculiar features of a common property resource
is that it lacks “excludability”. It is not possible for any individual to prevent the use
of these resources. That is, it will not be possible to alienate the resources to ascribe
exclusive ownership of a private entity, nor, it will be possible to prevent access of
these resources to the public. For example, waterways, ocean and atmosphere cannot
be appropriated exclusively; and preventing access will be too costly. In the case of
air, exclusion or user charge is impossible. However with water, these possibilities
exist with limited scope since potential revenue is not lucrative.
2. Non-Rivalry: The second feature of common property resource is “non-rivalry”. This
means that the consumption of the resources is not restricted. There is lack of
competition among the users unlike in the case of a private good, where everybody is
competing each other to make the best use of the resources. One can make use of the
resources in required quantities, while at the same time anyone else can make use of it
according to his needs. Since there is non-rivalry in consumption there is no pressure
on the consumer to make the limited use of it.

These two important features, viz., “non-exludability and non-rivalry” can well be
explained to differentiate a public good from a private good. Public good is characterized with
common ownership, while private good is characterized by the individual benefits and interest.
Thirdly, due to the scarcity of the resources publically, it can also be called as an
economic good, common ownership and over exploitation of resources have resulted in the
deterioration of the quality of resources and hence environmental quality has become an
economic good.
Allocation of Property Rights
We know that degradation of environmental quality arises due to resources being public
goods. We had also studied about the “tragedy of commons” wherein the resources are totally
depleted or degraded due to over use or misuse by all people without any control or norms to
preserve the quality of the resources. Allocation of property rights method of controlling
pollution in just the opposite of treating resources as public goods. If resources are allocated to
individuals or organizations as ‘private property’ with a legal entitlement to make use of them,
then the tragedy of commons can be averted and the resource use will become rational and also
minimal. Thereby the ‘externality’ arising out of commonality can be reduced to the minimum.
In short, this method advocates property rights over nature’s resources to prevent the spoilation
of nature.

It is stated by Burton that the Sahel region of North Africa, which is now a
desert, was once a fertile region, serving as the granary of the Roman Empire until the sixth
century. After that, when Arabs conquered that region, property rights changed into a common
property system for suing the pastures. As a result of converting the private property into public
property, with access to everyone, the tragedy of commons manifested fully. The lands degraded
quickly and nobody cared for the conservation and preservation of the quality of the resource and
finally it became a desert.

In controlling pollution it is suggested, if the public good environmental quality can be

transformed into a private good, optimal environmental allocation can be reached. But for this,
governmental intervention is necessary in assigning environmental property rights. But the
problem arises in defining the property right to resources in order to make an approach in that
direction.
Environment and Poverty
On 25th September 2015, 193 countries of the United Nations General Assembly adopted the
2030 agenda for Sustainable Development which contains 17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs).

The first and the foremost Sustainable Development goal is to “End Poverty in all forms
everywhere”. Each and every country of the world is looking forward to eradicating poverty so
that even the poor and vulnerable people also enjoy equal rights to economic resources, healthy
living conditions as well as access to basic infrastructure and technology. Moreover, there should
not be any doubt that poor nations and poor people are more severely vulnerable to effects of
environmental damage than the rich.

Over the past few decades, average living standards have risen and the gap between the very rich
and the very poor has broadened. But the question here arises “Why is poverty still prevailing in
the world?”

There can be many reasons but I think two biggest factors contributing to poverty are: Lack of
education and improper implementation of poverty eradication policies at the grass-root level.
More often than not, many international reports claim that poverty contributes to environmental
degradation. Due to lack of sufficient resources and improper knowledge poverty-stricken people
tend to overuse every resource available to them when their survival is at stake. But generally,
we tend to forget that p oor people are the most undefended ones when it comes to the effects of
environmental pollution, climate change and global warming.

In my viewpoint, it is very important for everyone to recognize that poverty and environmental
issues are interrelated. Poverty among people puts stress on the environment whereas
environmental problems cause severe suffering to the poor. People, whether they be rich or poor,
consume water, food, and natural resources in order to remain alive. All economic activities are
directly, indirectly or remotely based on natural resources and any pressure on natural resources
can cause environmental stress. Environmental damage can prevent people, especially the poor,
from having good and hygienic living standards. As poor people rely more directly on the
environment than the rich for their survival, they are mostly on the receiving end of
environmental problems
Poverty often causes people to put relatively more pressure on the environment which results in
larger families (due to high death rates and insecurity), improper human waste disposal leading
to unhealthy living conditions, more pressure on fragile land to meet their needs,
overexploitation of natural resources and more deforestation. Insufficient knowledge about
agricultural practices can also lead to a decline in crop yield and productivity etc.

On the other hand environmental problems add more to the miseries of poor people.
Environmental problems cause more suffering among them as environmental damage increases
the impact of floods and other environmental catastrophes. Soil erosion, land degradation and
deforestation lead to a decline in food production along with a shortage of wood for fuel
contribute to inflation. In short, the worst consequences of environmental deterioration, whether
they are economic, social, or related to mental or physical wellbeing, are experienced by poor
people.

More rigorous efforts should be undertaken by the governments of all countries to eradicate
poverty and in turn, to save deprived people from the dreadful implications of environmental
damage. There should be more collaborative partnerships among all sections of the society so
that even the people living in poverty are linked to the world through their participation in social,
political, and economical spheres along with their active participation in environmental
regeneration.

It’s a strong believe that there cannot be any environmental solution without alleviating poverty
from the world.