Speaker
Description
In a recent contribution to environmental policy, Thomas Pogge recommends an Ecological Impact Fund (EIF). The fund could, he suggests, play a pivotal role in enabling greater diffusion of green technology in less developed regions. A defining feature of the EIF is that innovators retain patents on new technologies but must price at unit cost. Compensation for foregone monopoly rents comes from contributing governments and is paid for evidenced carbon reduction. A seeming strength of Pogge’s idea is its realism. The fund intends to sustain innovation while improving diffusion through the use of financial incentives, thereby appealing to the rational self-interest of the corporate sector. In this chapter, however, I query the sufficiency of financial incentives as a means to attract innovators to the scheme. I argue instead for a commitment-based model of agency and draw out the implications for a revised EIF.
