The window to avert catastrophic climate change is closing fast. In a recently published article in Science (free version available here), Thom Wetzer and his colleagues outline a new approach to designing climate interventions that takes advantage of tipping points by identifying areas in the socio-economic and political system that are ‘sensitive’ to change. At such “Sensitive Intervention Points” (or SIPs), a modest but well-timed intervention can trigger feedback effects that generate outsized impacts and accelerate progress towards a post-carbon world. One potential example of a SIP in the area of law and finance, which Wetzer and his colleagues at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School are currently exploring, is the disclosure and pricing of climate risks.
The article has attracted widespread media attention, including in Popular Science. A summary of the article has been published on the Science Blog of the University’s website and on the website of the Oxford-Martin School.
