REVI EW
“The best medicine for addressing ‘fossilflation’? Getting off fossil fuels… The one clear winner: the planet.” Gernot Wagner, Faculty Director, the Climate Knowledge Initiative, Columbia Business School
“Wagner is quick to point out that the climate race is not only for the big players. Smaller countries must also pull together, as many are not only vulnerable but also ill-prepared for climate change.”
this way, saying the former is a diversion from “true” climate action. Wagner begs to differ, walking the tightrope of a balanced approach from chapter to chapter: • “It is moral hazard to think that technology will save us. However, it is equally hazardous to ignore innovations that could be game changers if they are accompanied by the right kinds of policies, investments, and political commitments.” • Meanwhile, “…those who merely argue for more research into solar geoengineering usually meet with strident ‘moral-hazard’ objections,
as if simply studying the issue will distract from emissions cuts. We must move beyond that argument.” • Granted, “…there is also a danger of a green moral hazard, whereby the mere promise of a simple technofix weakens the incentive to pursue a more comprehensive and ultimately superior transformation.” • “The key question when considering climate moral hazard, then, is whether a technology moves a company, industry, or sector closer to implementing an 80-100% solution, as opposed to a 10% or 20% measure that merely kicks the can down the road.” 43
Gernot Wagner
Gernot Wagner is a climate economist at Columbia Business School, New York, where he is Faculty Director of the Climate Knowledge Initiative. He holds degrees from Harvard and Stanford universities and has authored several books, including Climate
Shock and Geoengineering: the Gamble. For more see: gwagner.com
Powered by FlippingBook