Advantages of a polycentric approach to climate change policy

| February 11, 2015 | Leave a Comment

Item Link: Access the Resource

Date of Publication: January 28, 2015

Year of Publication: 2015

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group

Author(s): Daniel H. Cole

Journal: Nature Climate Change

Volume: 5

Pages: 114-118

As talks continue on global climate negotiations, are there advantages to promoting a polycentric approach?

ABSTRACT: Lack of progress in global climate negotiations has led scholars to reconsider polycentric approaches to climate policy. Several examples of subglobal mechanisms to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions have been touted, but it remains unclear why they might achieve better climate outcomes than global negotiations alone. Decades of work conducted by researchers associated with the Vincent and Elinor Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University have emphasized two chief advantages of polycentric approaches over monocentric ones: they provide more opportunities for experimentation and learning to improve policies over time, and they increase communications and interactions — formal and informal, bilateral and multilateral — among parties to help build the mutual trust needed for increased cooperation. A wealth of theoretical, empirical and experimental evidence supports the polycentric approach.

The views and opinions expressed through the MAHB Website are those of the contributing authors and do not necessarily reflect an official position of the MAHB. The MAHB aims to share a range of perspectives and welcomes the discussions that they prompt.