Paul G. Harris, What’s Wrong with Climate Politics and How to Fix It (Polity, 2013), 296 pages. Governments have failed to stem global emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases causing climate change. Indeed, without far more aggressive action, climate-changing pollution will remain far too high for decades to come. What explains this failure to effectively tackle the world’s most serious long-term problem? And what can be done about it? To answer these questions, Paul G. Harris looks at climate politics as a doctor might look at a very sick patient. He performs urgent diagnoses and prescribes vital treatments to revive our ailing planet before it is too late. What’s Wrong with Climate Politics and How to Fix It begins by diagnosing what’s most wrong with climate politics, including the anachronistic international system, which encourages nations to fight for their narrowly perceived interests and makes major cuts in greenhouse pollution extraordinarily difficult; the United States and China, which together produce over one-third of global greenhouse gas pollution; and affluent lifestyles and overconsumption, which are spreading rapidly from industrialized nations to the developing world. The book then prescribes several antidotes to the failed politics of climate change, including a new kind of climate diplomacy with people at its center, national policies that put the common-but-differentiated responsibilities of individuals alongside those of nations, and a campaign for simultaneously enhancing human wellbeing and environmental sustainability.
Click here to read this book’s table of contents and introduction.
“From front cover to concluding punchline, with brilliant insights in between, this is a great book — exactly what is needed to reinvigorate a stale climate debate.”
Joanna Depledge, Editor of Climate Policy journal
More reviews:
“Deceptively simple, but innovative… Harris’s analysis will serve as a good introduction to the politics of climate change.”
E-International Relations
“A great virtue of the book is its exceptionally clear structure … Harris’ mix of cultural and ethical change is certainly a key component in the sources of transformation we need to focus our attention on.”
Journal of Global Faultlines
“‘Fixing’ climate politics is a near-impossible task, but Paul Harris points to a way forward that does hold out some hope. His clearly written book will also be useful as an introduction to the problem of climate change and the politics associated with it.”
Peter Singer, Princeton University
“I very much enjoyed reading this book. It is well written, accessible, and engaging, and packed full of ideas and observations about the challenges of climate politics. I have no doubt that students will find it stimulating.”
Neil Carter, University of York
“A carefully researched and well-presented work.”
John Sweeny, National University of Ireland Maynooth, in the Irish Examiner
“Well-written … an excellent, easily understood review of the sorry status of international cooperation to find a global solution to climate change.”
Donald Brown, Widener University School of Law, in Ethics and Climate
“For a student or interested citizen wishing to delve deeper into some of the issues behind the current climate policy impasse, this well researched book offers an accessible and engaging read.”
Christopher Shaw, Oxford University, in LSE Review of Books
Paul G. Harris 