'Knowing what to do is not enough,' says Walker. 'Institutional reforms are needed to bring about changes in human behaviour, to increase local appreciation of shared global concerns and to correct the sort of failures of collective action that cause global-scale problems.'

'We are not advocating that countries give up their sovereignty,' adds co-author Terry Hughes, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University.

'We are instead proposing a much stronger focus on regional and worldwide cooperation, helped by better-designed multi-national institutions. The threat of climate change to coral reefs, for example, has to be tackled at a global scale. Local and national efforts are already failing.'

The scientists acknowledge that the main challenge is getting countries to agree to take part in global institutions designed to prevent destructive human practices. Plainly, agreements must be designed such that countries are better off participating than not participating, they say.

This would involve all countries in drawing up standards designed to protect the earth's resources and systems, to which they would then feel obligated to adhere, says a CSIRO release.

The study was published in the Friday issue of Science.