Can Self-Regulation Do What Government Cannot?

Faced with the challenge of sustainability, an important role is being played by industry organizations, which through forms of self-regulation push companies to improve their environmental performance by establishing programs or drafting codes of conduct. The environmental crisis is a global phenomenon, resulting from a production and consumption model that exasperates the maximization of individual returns by exploiting natural resources (air, water, land) at rates that well exceed their potential for regeneration. The so-called tragedy of the commons is altering the capability and productivity of ecosystems to generate the services we all depend on. Examples are the depletion of fish stocks, global warming, and deforestation.

Under such framework, economic theory has emphasized the fact that, in order to prevent the resource exhaustion, there must be forms of governance regulating the use of common goods. The regulator's role is normally assigned to government, which has the task of controlling the behavior of firms and organizations through policy tools such environmental taxes and incentives etc.
But the complexity of the ecological challenge has often determined the failure of such approach in absence of a planetary government and the impossibility of reconciling divergent national, economic and social interests. Think about the difficulty in laying out a shared international framework able to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.
What is noteworthy is that amid this void of governance, companies have often been able to give rise to forms of self-regulation to discipline their activities, by autonomously setting the rules of the game. The first known experience of this kind is the Responsible Care program, started by the Canadian Chemical Producers' Association in 1985. This initiative today includes 50 industry associations and thousands of firms. It was introduced to foster improvements in the environment, and the health, safety of workers, while improving transparency in the communication with stakeholders. The mining industry has followed suit in 2001 by establishing the International Council on mining and metals, to improve sustainability across the sector, while the cement industry has launched the Cement Sustainability Initiative, which today includes the world's 22 largest producers. Other initiatives certify the supply chain with a distinctive label, such as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), born thanks to the interchange between companies and NGOs. Today, MSC covers 10% of the global fishing industry, while in 2011 FSC certified more than 147 million hectares in more than 50 countries.
At the same time, various researchers raise doubts on the effectiveness of these measures in promoting a measurable improvement in environmental quality. What is then the actual effectiveness of these initiatives? This is a promising area of research, which would allow to identify better tools in the struggle against global ecological degradation.