What could a world environmental organization do?

This article evaluates the case for a new World Environmental Organization. It suggests that the main purpose of such an institution could be to accomplish the internalization of global environmental externalities which, for a variety of reasons, has not been achieved to any significant degree in recent decades. This stands in contrast to recent proposals that call for a mere strengthening of existing global arrangements. The benefits of this approach, as well as some of its problems, such as ambiguous property rights, are discussed.