New Orleans A plausible summary on global public policies to deal with climate change would boil down to a lot of talk that produces little real action. At least that was my takeaway in reading about the German-based Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change’s analysis of 1500 climate policies in 41 countries that found “only 63 actually worked to reduce greenhouse gas emission.” What a bummer!
Mercator used artificial intelligence to sort through databases of information provided by countries on their efforts to meet goals and commitments they had made in Paris in 2015. They found 46 different policy prescriptions and interventions. The default choices by governments were subsidies and regulations. Mercator found that it was very rare that this duo produced real reductions. The rare success stories were based on a mix of these policies that “change consumer and corporate behavior.” Labeling energy efficiency, lower speed limits, and imposing new vehicle taxes weren’t productive. Figuring out a mix of incentives, tax breaks, and regulations were common in the winning policies, according to the researchers’ analysis published in Science and reported in the Wall Street Journal.
It’s hard for me not to conclude that this F-minus grade on government policies and their effectiveness is the result of compromises made by politicians trying not to unsettle their voters while continuing to coddle corporations as donors and employers. This is policymaking by chickens on the cheap who are failing to take seriously the climate damage long term versus their own short term self-interest. That has to stop.
To keep this from being a complete downer, it’s important to remember that the fight goes on, even if its David versus Goliath, in moving more of these governments and corporations on climate. One mouse that is still roaring is 80 Benedictine Catholic sisters in the Mount St. Scholastica monastery outside of Kansas City, Kansas. Marshalling their small resources they have fired off numerous stockholder resolutions where “one of their top concerns these are climate change.” As the AP reported,
The resolutions rarely pass, and even if they do, they’re usually non-binding. But they’re still an education tool and a means to raise awareness inside a corporation. The Benedictine sisters have watched over the years as support for some of their resolutions has gone from low single digits to 30% or even a majority.
These nuns don’t back down. They’ve gone up against big Pharma, Chevron, Netflix and others. As one of the sisters said, “We don’t give. We just keep persevering and raising the issues.”
That’s what it’s going to take to force corporations and cities to make 1500 plans work and not just 63.