Is public policy up to the job of achieving net zero? Five reasons for despair vs. five reasons for optimism

In this seminar, Honorary Associate Professor Nicholas Rowley will explore the question of whether public policy is up to the job of achieving net zero. He will draw on his rich practical experience of working in government on climate, his advisory work and the academic understanding incorporated into his courses on effective climate policy. In doing so he will emphasise climate policy’s immaturity and the importance of recognising the implications and required co-benefits of strong climate policy beyond the necessary goal of achieving net zero.

Reducing the risks associated with a rapidly changing climate and achieving net zero emissions by 2050 represents a truly wicked policy problem. What Lord Stern of Brentford has called “a complex, inter-temporal, international, collective action problem, under uncertainty”. Even with clear political commitment, this is a policy problem beyond compare.

Policy designed to address the problem and reduce climate risk has a short history. Unlike other areas of policy (health, transport, security, defence, economy etc.) the first efforts to address the problem go back a mere thirty years. The hotter and more unstable climate resulting from climate policy failure stands to make all other policies harder to achieve. A way to think about the climate policy problem is how Tony Blair came to refer to it: as the problem. Fail to develop and implement effective domestic and international climate policy and all other policy challenges become harder.

Informed by this context, and with a view to provoking open discussion and debate, Nick will share five reasons to be pessimistic and five reasons he believes we can be optimistic about our national and international capacity to reduce emissions at scale, achieve net zero and with it climate security by 2050.

Bio:

Nick Rowley has been working on climate response for 25 years, holding senior government positions the UK and Australia. His role advising Tony Blair on climate issues for two years proved instrumental, particularly in the lead-up to the 2005 G8 meeting when climate response was made an issue for Heads of State for the first time. He also played a pivotal role in initiating the influential Stern Review into the Economics of Climate Change.

Beyond his government roles, Nick is recognized for his engaging presentation style, deep knowledge and educational prowess. He has provided advice to climate advocates and business leaders and has shared his expertise by developing graduate public policy courses at the London School of Economics (LSE) and the University of Sydney.