UCLA School of Law

People love to talk about the glossy world of “Win-Win Scenarios.” Battling climate change will also grow the renewables sector and create thousands of green jobs. Catch shares programs will increase the fishing community’s incomes and also conserve fisheries. There surely are plenty of examples of win-win scenarios in the environmental field, but it’s wishful thinking to assume that many, much less most, environmental conflicts can be solved with all parties better off. It is often the case that one or more parties feel trapped in a zero-sum game. This short essay, part of the Environmental Law Collaborative's project on Zero-Sum Environmentalism, sets out the three basic strategies that environmental law has developed to manage zero-sum challenges.