Sustainable finance
Public Good
A good that is non-excludable and non-rival — available to all without diminishing others' use — explaining why markets underprovide environmental protection.
Definition
A public good is one that is non-excludable (no one can be prevented from using it) and non-rivalrous (one person's use does not reduce another's). Clean air, a stable climate and biodiversity exhibit public-good characteristics; because free riders can benefit without paying, markets and individual states underprovide them, justifying collective provision through government or international cooperation.
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