Please join the Center for Political Economy's Political Economy of Climate Lab on Tuesday, October 14 from 6:00-8:00 PM EST for a public lecture, Climate Treaties: Time for a New Approach.
For 35 years, climate negotiators have focused on an approach that has failed to achieve the objectives they say must be met. In this lecture, Scott Barrett (Lenfest-Earth Institute Professor of Natural Resource Economics, SIPA & Earth Institute) will explain why this approach has failed, and why an alternative approach would succeed better. Geoffrey Heal (Donald C. Waite III Professor Emeritus of Social Enterprise, Columbia Business School) will also serve as a discussant in the conversation.
This alternative differs from the main UN negotiations by focusing on sectors rather than economy-wide measures, on technology-fuel switching rather than emission reductions, and on global systemic change rather than national action. Though "lock-in" makes even small reductions in emissions costly and difficult to enforce within a treaty, increasing returns to the adoption of a new technology-fuel combination makes switching a "tipping game" in which enforcement is “built in.” Switching treaties need only specify the new technology-fuel combination; incorporate trade measures and/or R&D funding to bolster increasing returns, where necessary; and provide the “big push” needed to assure universal adoption.
The lecture will last approximately 75 minutes, followed by a 45-minute reception with light refreshments.
