A determination of the potential for behavioural and experimental economics to enhance climate change mitigation policy.

The general consensus amongst scientists, world leaders, and the majority of the population is that
our climate is changing. The UN warned in 2018 that we only have 12 years to limit the climate
change catastrophe (IPCC, 2018), to cut the risk of extreme weather and poverty. Questions are
being asked as to the best methods of tackling climate change, and given the ticking clock, it is vital
we deliver the right answers.

Environmental economists can tell us why international climate agreements often don't work. It is
the incentive each country has too free ride on the contributions other countries make to mitigate
climate change (Barrett, 2003). We are yet to see agreements unlike the Kyoto Protocol and the
Paris Agreement that are designed appropriately to induce countries to increase their
environmental efforts. Arguably, the key to finding a sustainable cooperative equilibrium is to
introduce behavioural 'nudges' into these agreements and use behavioural biases to our advantage.
The concept of 'nudges' and the discipline behavioural economics was advanced notably by 2017
Nobel Prize winner, Richard Thaler. Since we have evidence of behavioural biases undermining the
effectiveness of climate policy (Safarzynska, 2017), climate agreements must be incorporating this
as a matter of urgency. My research will provide foundations for this incorporation.