ABSTRACT

This article proposes a general framework within which to analyze the new environmental intangibles that have been proliferating over the last decades in order to address environmental problems on a market basis. We pay attention to different possible states of environmental intangibles according to the degree of commodification of the impact they are based on. The impact is measured, then commodified and sometimes traded in a secondary market. Each state requires complex socio-technical arrangements. We also differentiate between positive impact, avoided negative impact and negative impact commodities, since each of them appears to relate to the environment problem quite differently. The literature and the articles of this special issue provide numerous case studies. They suggest that the commodification of environmental impacts via the creation of intangibles often fails to deliver the promised environmental improvements. We throw light on one of their aspects: the detachment from the physicality of the impacts, a detachment that is needed to commodify them. This detachment takes different guises. It seems that the greatest flexibility for economic actors comes with a greater detachment, and that this weakens its environmental effectiveness.

摘要

本文提出了一个总体框架，在该框架内分析过去几十年中激增的新环境无形资产，以便在市场基础上解决环境问题。我们根据环境无形资产所基于的影响的商品化程度，关注环境无形资产的不同可能状态。影响被衡量，然后商品化，有时在二级市场交易。每个州都需要复杂的社会技术安排。我们还区分了正面影响、避免负面影响和负面影响商品，因为它们中的每一种似乎与环境问题的关系都大不相同。本期特刊的文献和文章提供了大量案例研究。他们认为，通过创造无形资产将环境影响商品化通常无法实现承诺的环境改善。我们阐明了它们的一个方面：与撞击的物理性的分离，一种将它们商品化所需的分离。这种分离采取了不同的形式。似乎经济参与者最大的灵活性伴随着更大的超脱，这削弱了其环境有效性。