Implementing Long-Term Climate Policy: Time Inconsistency, Domestic Politics, International Anarchy

Jon Hovi, Detlef F. Sprinz and Arild Underdal
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Jon Hovi: Jon Hovi is a Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, and at CICERO-Center for International Climate and Environmental Research, Oslo. He has recently published articles in Economics Letters, Energy Policy, Global Environmental Politics, International Environmental Agreements, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Review of International Studies, Review of Policy Research, and World Politics.
Detlef F. Sprinz: Detlef F. Sprinz is Senior Scientist in the Research Domain "Transdisciplinary Concepts & Methods" of PIK-Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. His research and publications encompass long-term policy, inter/national institutions and the evaluation of their performance, international environmental policy, and modeling political decisions. He is the Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the European Environment Agency, Copenhagen, Denmark, and a member of the European Academy, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany. His major publications include Models, Numbers, and Cases: Methods for Studying International Relations (with Yael Wolinsky-Nahmias, 2004), International Relations and Global Climate Change (with Urs Luterbacher, 2001), as well as articles in International Organization, International Studies Review, International Political Science Review, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and World Politics.
Arild Underdal: Arild Underdal is Professor of Political Science at the University of Oslo. Most of his research over the past two decades has focused on international cooperation, with particular reference to environmental governance. Major publications include Environmental Regime Effectiveness: Confronting Theory with Evidence (with E. L. Miles and others, 2002); Regime Consequences: Methodological Consequences and Research Strategies (co-edited with O. R. Young, 2004); and Science and Politics in International Environmental Regimes (with S. Andresen, T. Skodvin, and J. Wettestad, 2000). Underdal served as Rector of the University of Oslo, 2002-2005.

Global Environmental Politics, 2009, vol. 9, issue 3, 20-39

Abstract: As a quintessential long-term policy problem, climate change poses two major challenges. The first is to develop, under considerable uncertainty, a plan for allocating resources over time to achieve an effective policy response. The second is to implement this plan, once arrived at, consistently over time. We consider the second of these two challenges, arguing that it consists of three interrelated, commitment problems-the time inconsistency problem, the domestic politics problem, and the anarchy problem. We discuss each of these commitment problems in some detail, explore how they relate to climate policy, and suggest institutional designs that may help limit their adverse impact. While each of these commitment problems is difficult to tackle on its own, climate change requires us to cope with all of them at once. This is likely one major reason why we have so far made only modest headway on this vital issue. (c) 2009 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Date: 2009
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