Coordinated chaos

Climate policymakers are a bit like nursery children trying to ice skate for the first time. They’re not the most coordinated people in the world.

Each country is trying to tackle a problem that affects not only themselves but the rest of the world. In fact, the biggest emitters are ofen not the most impacted by climate change. Economists refer to this problem as the tragedy of the commons.

Remember when the pandemic hit and everyone scrambled to buy toilet paper? Same idea. We all saw others scrambling to buy toilet paper and then we were worried we’d be left wiping with single ply. So we went and bought more toilet paper, triggering the dread of another wave of doomsday preppers. Repeat. The result? Millions of people having to deal with *shudders* single ply toilet paper.

In the case of climate policy, the worry is that if a country cuts back on emissions and invests in renewable alternatives, but nobody else does, they’ve spent a bunch of money and the impact on the climate overall is negligible. For this to work, we need countries to work together and make assurances. It’s easier said than done.

This is where all these initiatives like COP and other multi-lateral organisations come in to play. Countries sit together and propose what they’re willing to do, they debate, and (ideally) agree to a set of actions that they will all take. An economic bloc like the EU is even better placed, with a history of coordination and policymaking across other topics, they should be able to strike a climate policy deal that works. In fact, they’ve proposed a number of initiatives to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the EU by 55% by 2030 and to hit Net Zero™ by 2050.

Sometimes though, even when everyone agrees they’re not going to hoard toilet paper, there’s that one person that changes their mind. This month, Germany is that person. By reneging on a deal they previously supported to ban the sale of new internal combustion engines in the EU by 2035 just days before final approval, there’s now a worry that out countries will also start voicing objections. We could be seeing a lot of diplomatic progress undone in the coming months - all because they didn’t include a no takesies backsies clause.