Fixing the Climate: Strategies for an Uncertain World

Charles F. Sabel; David G. Victor

Published by Princeton University Press 2022

Fixing the Climate

Strategies for an Uncertain World

Charles F. Sabel and David G. Victor

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691224541

Overview
Contents

About this book

A compelling argument for solving the global climate crisis through local partnerships and experimentation

Global climate diplomacy—from the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement—is not working. Despite decades of sustained negotiations by world leaders, the climate crisis continues to worsen. The solution is within our grasp—but we will not achieve it through top-down global treaties or grand bargains among nations.

Charles Sabel and David Victor explain why the profound transformations needed for deep cuts in emissions must arise locally, with government and business working together to experiment with new technologies, quickly learn the best solutions, and spread that information globally. Sabel and Victor show how some of the most iconic successes in environmental policy were products of this experimentalist approach to problem solving, such as the Montreal Protocol on the ozone layer, the rise of electric vehicles, and Europe’s success in controlling water pollution. They argue that the Paris Agreement is at best an umbrella under which local experimentation can push the technological frontier and help societies around the world learn how to deploy the technologies and policies needed to tackle this daunting global problem.

A visionary book that fundamentally reorients our thinking about the climate crisis, Fixing the Climate is a road map to institutional design that can finally lead to self-sustaining reductions in emissions that years of global diplomacy have failed to deliver.

Author / Editor information

Charles F. Sabel is the Maurice T. Moore Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. His books include Experimentalist Governance in the European Union. He lives in New York City. David G. Victor is professor of international relations and industrial policy at the University of California, San Diego. His books include Global Warming Gridlock. He lives in La Jolla, California.

Reviews

“In this excellent book, Sabel and Victor offer nothing less than a new paradigm for addressing climate change, building on decentralized problem-solving practices that are already widely deployed but have been hidden in plain sight due to our focus on outdated models.”—Dani Rodrik, Harvard University

“To get big cuts in carbon emissions, we’ve got to push the technological frontier. Charles Sabel and David Victor’s compelling new book shows persuasively how we can do this by government and business partnering together to test new technologies and learn quickly what works. This is vital reading for everyone who truly cares about climate action.”—Jay Inslee, Governor of the State of Washington, former US presidential candidate, and coauthor of Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America’s Clean Energy Economy

“If you read just one book this year about how we can best solve climate change, read this one. It is beautifully written, fundamentally pragmatic, and—best of all—deeply hopeful.”—Rebecca Henderson, author of Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
1 Introduction TOWARD EXPERIMENTALIST GOVERNANCE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2 Lessons from the Path Not Taken MONTREAL AND KYOTO Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	18
3 Theory of Experimentalist Governance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
4 Innovation at the Technological Frontier THREE POLICY ICONS AND A COMMON APPROACH TO UNCERTAINTY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	74
5 Experimentalism in Context GROUND -LEVEL INNOVATION IN AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY, AND ELECTRIC POWER Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	106
6 International Cooperation beyond Paris Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
7 Piecing Together a More Accountable Globalization Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	170
NOTES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
REFERENCES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
A NOTE ON THE TYPE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237