Climate Governance and the Resource Curse

Abstract

The energy sector is the world’s single largest driver of climate change, accounting for roughly 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Limiting emissions by reducing our dependence on fossil fuels will require the active participation of diverse, and often conflicting, stakeholders, including policy makers, scientists, industry leaders, and consumers. The difficulties inherent in rallying such groups to combat a complex, long-term problem like climate change make it a “super wicked” public policy challenge, testing not only our capacity to innovate technological solutions but also—perhaps most importantly—our capacity to govern.¹