Climate Clever

Hugh Compston is a Professor of Politics at Cardiff University and has published widely on political economy, public policy and climate politics. Recent books include Policy Networks and Policy Change (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), Climate Change and Political Strategy (edited) (Taylor and Francis, 2010), and Turning Down the Heat: The Politics of Climate Policy in Affluent Democracies (edited with Ian Bailey) (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008).Ian Bailey is an Associate Professor at the University of Plymouth, specialising in European climate policy. He has published widely on aspects of environmental policy, including a special issue of Area on climate policy implementation (2007), and Turning down the heat: The politics of climate policy in affluent democracies (with Hugh Compston, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). He has advised UK government, the EU and Policy Network on various aspects of climate policy.

Most of the vast swathes of books, articles, or blogs, written on climate change policy proceed on the basis as if politics is irrelevant. But it is politics that will determine whether we decarbonise the economy quickly and deeply enough to avoid disastrous climate change. In Climate Clever, Hugh Compston and Ian Bailey succinctly and powerfully think through the political logic of climate change to give us astrong sense of the sorts of actions politicians can take to reduce emissions without getting booted out of office, and the sorts of actions the rest of us can take to get politicians to move in the right direction.Matthew Paterson, École d'études politiques, Université d'Ottawa, co-author (with Peter Newell) of Climate capitalism: global warming and the transformation of the global economy"Essential reading for anyone concerned with the politics of climate change. The authors show how practical measures to limit carbon impact can be achieved even in the face of public indifference."Anthony Giddens, former Director of the London School of Economics

• 1. Getting to Grips with the Problem 2. Just do it 3. Persuasion 4. Political Exchange 5. Changing the terms of Political Exchange 6. The Way Ahead