Sustainable development in general requires extensive expenditures on environmental global public goods, but the prospects for requisite investment are diminished by aversion to risk and the tragedy of the commons. If the rules do not allow for a solution to an existential problem, we have to change the rules. Can we imagine an articulate vision, effective champions, a host organization where the principals meet repeatedly and a series of calibrated steps to provide for dramatic change? The idea of a “Green Super Fund” can be framed as a positive-sum game, with a win-win-win allocation that would garner widespread global support and ultimately be accepted by all the major players.
