Exploring Economic and Political Drivers for the Introduction of Innovative Mitigation Policies

Abstract

Politicians and high-level officials from all over the world will meet in Copenhagen in December 2009 to reach a global agreement on climate. Mitigation policies aiming at radical cuts in emissions, starting now, deepening over time, and widening their geopolitical coverage, will require domestic and international consensus, if they are to be agreed and implemented in the months and years to come. The paper explores the drivers for adoption of mitigation policies, with a special emphasis on those arising from the International Symposium on Innovative Economic Policies for Climate Change Mitigation, held in July 2009 at the Subiaco Monastery of St Scholastica (Italy). Instead of framing climate change mitigation as a burden, these policies are meant to generate a conducive environment for innovation, profits, employment, wages, and improvement of real quality of life. An exploration of their economic and environmental effectiveness is conducted, together with a limited analysis of possible political factors influencing the decision to adopt them. In the conclusions, the need to reframe the discourse on climate change is put forth for the success of climate negotiations.