The Air We Breathe Is free but being rapidly degraded, its protection should be valued. Its most critical component, Oxygen surrounds us, filling our lungs with every breath we take. For many of us, it’s an invisible gift of nature that we take for granted. But Why is this essential resource—the very foundation of life— free to be exploited at present? Why could not trees, plants, and photosynthetic organisms that produce oxygen have economic value ? Could those who benefit most from using the resources of the Global Commons be required to contribute to its maintenance? This is the idea behind the Oxygen Economy, a bold and transformative concept that seeks to address environmental and social challenges in a way that is fair, sustainable, and forward-thinking beyond GDP value which measures the success of our societies today.

The Oxygen Economy operates on the principles of private property being valued using financial tools such as Valuation guarantees, stakeholder Contracts and Insurances to monetize contractually produced oxygen as a financial product . This involves three key components:

1. MRV Guarantee : Assigning an economic value to the oxygen produced by contracted and registered units in identified geographical areas of production is based on the MRV of PES productivity by trees / plants or photosynthetic organisms such as Cyanobacteria.
2. Stakeholder Contracts and Compensation: Establishing formal agreements between oxygen consumers (e.g., corporations / Space exploration companies ) and contracted oxygen producers (e.g., farmers, Local communities) to ensure optimal primary ecosystem services
3. TheFinancial Tool: The validated quantity of photosynthetic biomass is value-set using ER methodology and a market peg approach, based on the concept of mining oxygen from the Global Commons. For an example of how oxygen is valued in practical scenarios, see oxygen cost without insurance.
4. Policy and Regulation: Introducing legal frameworks at a regional scale to enforce accountability and prevent the exploitation of oxygen resources.The private contracts would play a key role in monitoring bioregional Oxygen production, ensuring compliance, and incentivizing sustainable practices to scale the Oxygen economy.

While our efforts in Sri Lanka are a promising start, the true potential of the Oxygen Economy lies in its ability to scale globally. Imagine a world where farmers are compensated for the establishment of trees, where rural and even urban greenery projects could receive funding to expand their impact for this paradigm of business. Such a system would not only help combat climate change but also address economic inequalities of the current GDP paradigm, by together contracting the Oxygen economic asset tool to those who sustain the planet’s life-support systems.

Like any transformative idea, the Oxygen Economy faces potential challenges. Critics may argue that assigning a monetary value to Oxygen risks commodifying a natural resource that should remain freely accessible. Others may question the feasibility of measuring, validating and regulating oxygen production on a global scale. These concerns can be addressed by emphasizing the ethical principles behind the Oxygen Economy. The goal is not to charge people for breathing but to ensure that those who contribute to its sustainability profit from financial contracts for Oxygen production. Additionally, such transparent systems for measuring and validating oxygen production will be crucial for building trust and ensuring fairness towards the vision of accounting for intergenerational wealth beyond the GDP framework that exists .

The Oxygen Economy: A revolution for the 21st century

The Identification and Mobilization of the Standing Global Stock towards Global Environmental Renewal.

The hypothesis that 'what is unowned is unmarketed, what is unmarketed is underpriced, what is underpriced is mismanaged, overused and wasted', has provided the underpinning of creating a public acceptance of the sovereignty of the market economy. However, a partial recognition of reality has enabled a flawed operation of this dictum causing the environment to become increasingly hostile to living things. A case in point is the ownership of forestlands. Where ownership was exercised, forests were owned by the communities who lived in and around them, unless there was a centralized command system such as organized kingdoms in which case forests were owned by the king. Today governments have assumed the right of such communities. Given the present Geopolitics, it is highly unlikely that any nation will surrender a perceived opportunity to exercise 'ownership' - Especially if it was a resource.

Following this dictum it means that all resources that can be seen to emanate from within a given geopolitical boundary, can be claimed by that state. A classic case in point is the Cycling Atmospheric Gasses (CAGs). These gasses Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen, and the minor gasses are all in a uniform mix in the atmosphere over all nations. However, there is no equity in the recognition and evaluation of national production. To set price, there will have to be recognition of the Standing Global Stock (SGS) of the CAG's. All Countries have a great amount to gain in the recognition of an international Ownership of the SGS.

While the global stock of CAGs has been created through the advent of physical and biological processes before the evolution of geopolitical boundaries. The situation today is that countries have well defined boundaries within which such geological and biological processes operate. Current production within any such boundary can be evaluated relatively easily, on a daily basis if need be, using the modern sensing technologies. An example of this can be drawn from two gasses, Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide.

Oxygen or Carbon Dioxide has been produced over ages by all the countries of the world and by seas and continents of the past. The production homogenized by the global cycles into the global pool. This Global stock of gasses today is what has to be fixed as the level of the global stock and can form the capital to construct a real development bank. The function of this bank will be to buy from producers and bill consumers to maintain some agreed management goals for the stock.

The national gain by subscribing to the concept of SGS will be illustrated using the case of atmospheric Oxygen. The SGS for oxygen given current estimates is about x% of the atmospheric gasses or y tons. If the ownership of this volume is controlled by an international entity. This entity can buy or sell stock that does not deplete the baseload accepted when the SGS was created. In other words, the standing stock is not up for negotiation or sale, only the production and consumption at a country level is tradable. For example, country A with a dense vegetation cover provides x tons of oxygen per annum while a comparable country B with poor vegetation cover produces less than x tons of oxygen per year. The amount that each country will have for negotiating with the Bank is based upon the net production (nP) of oxygen to the SGS. The net production is calculated by subtracting annual consumption (C), which is a sum of Industrial, and domestic consumption (I) plus natural respiration (R) minus the total country production (tP). Such that: nP= tP- C (where C= I+R)

If the net production is positive the country gains from the SGS and is paid by the bank if the net production is negative then the country owes the Bank as this represents a drawdown from the SGS. In practice this system will bring a more equitable use of global resources and incorporates the 'user pays' principle fully.

Notes:

1. The recognition of the Global Stock of CAG's as being distinct from national stocks will enable the structuring of a financial instrument that can support the current international institution building process.
2. The current levels of the global stock have been well established by scientific research.
3. The rates of exchange and transfer dynamics of the CAG's are well identified so that the auditing of national contributions and drawdown are easily established.
4. The recognition of the value of the global pool creates new capital stock in the global economy.