Hugh Compston - Climate Clever: How Governments Can Tackle Climate Change (And Still Win Elections)

Why, despite two decades of climate policy, have affluent democracies made so little progress in cutting greenhouse gas emissions? We know that there are ways of doing this that are both practical and affordable.

It is politics that is the problem. Stringent climate policies may lead companies to redirect investment elsewhere, or voters to retaliate at the ballot box. There are many political obstacles to stronger action.

What can be done? Based on an analysis of the logic of policy making, plus observation of recent developments in climate politics, this book identifies a broad range of political strategies that are available to governments that wish to take more effective action against climate change while avoiding serious political damage. Separate chapters deal with strategies relating to unilateral action, persuasion, political exchange and changing the terms of political exchange. This is the first book-length study of political strategy and climate change and will be of interest not only to policy makers but also to experts and activists looking to formulate politically realistic policy proposals, and scholars and students of politics and environmental studies.

Hugh Compston is a Professor of Politics at Cardiff University and has published widely on political economy, public policy and climate politics.

Ian Bailey is an Associate Professor at the University of Plymouth, specializing in European climate policy. He has published widely and advised UK government, the EU and Policy Network on various aspects of climate policy.

Most of the vast swathes of books, articles, or blogs, written on climate change policy proceed on the basis as if politics is irrelevant. But it is politics that will determine whether we decarbonise the economy quickly and deeply enough to avoid disastrous climate change. In Climate Clever, Hugh Compston and Ian Bailey succinctly and powerfully think through the political logic of climate change to give us a strong sense of the sorts of actions politicians can take to reduce emissions without getting booted out of office, and the sorts of actions the rest of us can take to get politicians to move in the right direction.

Mathew Paterson, cole dtudes politiques, Universit d'Ottawa, co-author (with Peter Newell) of Climate capitalism: global warming and the transformation of the global economy (2010).

Essential reading for anyone concerned with the politics of climate change. The authors show how practical measures to limit carbon impact can be achieved even in the face of public indifference.

Anthony Giddens, former Director of the London School of Economics.

First published 2012

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

2012 Hugh Compston and Ian Bailey

The right of Hugh Compston and Ian Bailey to be identified as
authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
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publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library

Compston, Hugh, 1955-

Climate clever : how governments can tackle climate change (and
still win elections) / Hugh Compston & Ian Bailey.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Environmental policy- -Political aspects. 2. Climatic changes-
Political aspects. 3. Political ecology. I. Bailey, Ian, 1965- II. Title.

JA75.8.C57 2012

363.738' 74561- -dc23

2011033712

ISBN: 978-0-415-67976-3 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-415-67977-0 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-0-203-12813-8 (ebk)

Typeset in Bembo

by Taylor & Francis Books

We would love to assert that the ideas in this book are all our own, but of course this is not the case. In fact they are based mainly on the findings of a collaborative research project that involved experts from around the world. Preliminary results from this were published in 2008 as Turning Down the Heat (ed. Hugh Compston and Ian Bailey, Palgrave Macmillan) and in 2010 as Political Strategy and Climate Change (ed. Hugh Compston, Routledge). We would like to express our profound thanks to the contributors to these books for the quality of their contributions: Terry Barker, Ian Bartle, Iosif Botetzagias, Paul Brewer, Gary Bryner, Catherine Butler, Allison Chatrchyan, Chad Damro, Deborah Davenport, Pamela Doughman, Amy Fletcher, Lars Friberg, Neil Gavin, Frank Grundig, Irene Lorenzoni, Douglas Macdonald, Donald MacKenzie, Sam Maresh, Axel Michaelowa, Tim O'Riordan, Andrew Pease, Nick Pidgeon, Sarah Pralle, Ivan Scrase, Adrian Smith and Joseph Szarka. In addition we would like to thank Nick Rowley for his stimulating ideas, the British Academy for their funding assistance for Ian, and Craig Fowlie, Nicola Parkin and everyone at Routledge for their efficiency. Hugh would also like to thank Cherrie for being there and keeping his feet on the ground. Ian, as always, owes a huge debt to Rebecca, Ruth and Polly for their tolerance and cheerfulness during the completion of this book.