Climate Policy Thermostats – A contribution to the conversation on global climate governance
Benjamin William Cashore
Dear Jennifer, Aseem and colleagues,
Thanks for convening what promises to be another generative conversation with such a thoughtful group. As part of the broader dialogue on the future of global climate governance, I wanted to share a new paper that may be of interest:
“Climate Policy Thermostats: The Planet’s Last Hope?”
A revised version of this paper will appear in a chapter of my book under contract with MIT Press, The Environmental Policy Paradox: Why Sustainability Governance is Failing Our Planet and What to Do About It.
This piece advances the 4PT framework, that I have developed and applied with through several collaborations with members of our community, to address the environmental policy paradox characterized by the acceleration of climate, biodiversity and forest challenges, and policy innovations designed to avert them. I argue that explanations for this paradox cannot be fully explained by economic globalization, power asymmetries, and implementation challenges, but also by ill fit for purpose problem frames pursued by Commons (Type 1), Optimization (Type 2) and, Compromise (Type 3) schools of sustainability thought and practice. I show that greater attention to building Type 4 “Prioritization” policy capacities is critical for assessing whether, and how, we might learn from exiting cases of thermostatic systems to design effective and durable climate policy thermostats.
Some of you may recall I previously reached out to this list for real-world examples of policy thermostats. I’d be very grateful for any feedback from this group as I prepare the final manuscript.
Best
Ben
From:
<gep...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of "Hadden, Jennifer" <jen_h...@brown.edu>
Reply to: "jen_h...@brown.edu" <jen_h...@brown.edu>
Date: Tuesday, 25 November 2025 at 12:27 AM
To: "gep...@googlegroups.com" <gep...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [gep-ed] Reminder: COP 30 and the Future of Global Climate Governance
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Dear Colleagues,
Please join us for the next session of the Environmental Politics and Governance Network's "Deep Climate Conversations" on Monday, December 1st, 11:45am-1pm EST.
Our topic will be: COP 30 and the Future of Global Climate Governance
To receive the Zoom link, you will need to register in advance here: https://brown.zoom.us/meeting/register/ezhB-JscS2Su9k95MI3jPw
We intend to explore the following questions:
· What were the most consequential outcomes of the COP? Did the COP make progress on the Brazilian Presidency's implementation agenda? On adaptation? On tropical forests?
· The U.S. did not send a national delegation to the COP. What effect did that have on the negotiations? Did other actors --- like China, Brazil, and the EU --- take a more prominent role as a result?
· This year will be the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement. Reflecting on the past ten years, what are your views on the achievements and limitations of global climate governance?
We hope that you will be able to attend.
Jennifer Hadden and Aseem Prakash
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Jennifer Hadden
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and Watson School for International and Public Affairs
Brown University
Office: Room 319, 111 Thayer Street
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