Is Climate Cooperation A Game?
As climate change becomes more and more pronounced, world powers begin to realize that this global issue will require global cooperation. The article that I chose attempts to examine whether distinct nations choose to cooperate with each other to mitigate climate change as the issue becomes more and more urgent. In a very simplified setting, the problem can be modeled as a game in which each nation can either work to preserve the climate or continue business as usual. The article explains that most models of this game devolve into the Prisoner’s Dilemma. The best net result occurs when the nations work together, but nations which continue business as usual have better individual gains if only the other nation takes action. In particular, both nations are incentivized to continue business as usual. This is consistent with what we’d expect given that the Nash Equilibrium of the Prisoner’s Dilemma suggests that both players will choose to betray the other.
On the other hand, the article notes that once climate change becomes severe enough, committing to mitigating it becomes the dominant strategy for both nations. In this case the Nash Equilibrium lies in favor of preserving the climate. This is known as the Stag Hunt game; both players cooperate to gain the best result.
While the article acknowledges that it is using a very simplified model, it fails to recognize that in the real world, nations do not make decisions in isolation. In fact nations are constantly communicating with each other both directly and indirectly. With regard to the climate, nations have already gotten together to form the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Climate Accords. With this understanding in mind, we need to reexamine our supposition that individual nations should only be concerned with their own well being. Climate change is a global phenomenon and it will only be reigned in through global cooperation.