Anthony Patt is Professor of Human-Environment Systems at ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He had been a practicing environmental lawyer in the United States when his concern about climate change led him to Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, where he earned a PhD for research on the relationship between science, engineering and climate change governance. Since moving to Europe in 2006, he has turned his attention to the policy challenges associated with scaling up low-carbon technologies. In 2012 he received the prestigious European Research Council award to support his team's research on the environmental, social and institutional challenges of solar energy development. From 2011–14 he participated in numerous capacities in the preparation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report, including as Lead Author on the role of risk and uncertainty in climate policy, and as a member of the writing team of the Summary for Policymakers for the IPCC's Mitigation of Climate Change report.

'Anthony Patt challenges the received wisdom of climate policy head on … his book serves as wake up call for climate policy decision-makers: in the end, the actual performance of greenhouse gas mitigation policy instruments counts, not their theoretical beauty.' Axel Michaelowa, University of Zurich

• Foreword David G. Victor; Part I. Setting the Stage: 1. From optimism to pessimism and back again; 2. The natural and social science of climate change; 3. The solution space and its distractions; Part II. Failed Strategies to Reduce Emissions: 4. Getting the prices right; 5. Striking a global bargain; 6. Changing the way we live; Part III. Successful Strategies to Move Us Away from Fossil Fuels: 7. Theories of transition; 8. Strategic technologies; 9. Energiewende in the German power sector; 10. Policies beyond power; 11. Pulling it all together; Index.

Anthony Patt is Professor of Human-Environment Systems at ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He had been a practicing environmental lawyer in the United States when his concern about climate change led him to Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, where he earned a PhD for research on the relationship between science, engineering and climate change governance. Since moving to Europe in 2006, he has turned his attention to the policy challenges associated with scaling up low-carbon technologies. In 2012 he received the prestigious European Research Council award to support his team's research on the environmental, social and institutional challenges of solar energy development. From 2011–14 he participated in numerous capacities in the preparation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report, including as Lead Author on the role of risk and uncertainty in climate policy, and as a member of the writing team of the Summary for Policymakers for the IPCC's Mitigation of Climate Change report.

'Anthony Patt challenges the received wisdom of climate policy head on … his book serves as wake up call for climate policy decision-makers: in the end, the actual performance of greenhouse gas mitigation policy instruments counts, not their theoretical beauty.' Axel Michaelowa, University of Zurich

• Foreword David G. Victor; Part I. Setting the Stage: 1. From optimism to pessimism and back again; 2. The natural and social science of climate change; 3. The solution space and its distractions; Part II. Failed Strategies to Reduce Emissions: 4. Getting the prices right; 5. Striking a global bargain; 6. Changing the way we live; Part III. Successful Strategies to Move Us Away from Fossil Fuels: 7. Theories of transition; 8. Strategic technologies; 9. Energiewende in the German power sector; 10. Policies beyond power; 11. Pulling it all together; Index.

Anthony Patt is Professor of Human-Environment Systems at ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He had been a practicing environmental lawyer in the United States when his concern about climate change led him to Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, where he earned a PhD for research on the relationship between science, engineering and climate change governance. Since moving to Europe in 2006, he has turned his attention to the policy challenges associated with scaling up low-carbon technologies. In 2012 he received the prestigious European Research Council award to support his team's research on the environmental, social and institutional challenges of solar energy development. From 2011–14 he participated in numerous capacities in the preparation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report, including as Lead Author on the role of risk and uncertainty in climate policy, and as a member of the writing team of the Summary for Policymakers for the IPCC's Mitigation of Climate Change report.

'Anthony Patt challenges the received wisdom of climate policy head on … his book serves as wake up call for climate policy decision-makers: in the end, the actual performance of greenhouse gas mitigation policy instruments counts, not their theoretical beauty.' Axel Michaelowa, University of Zurich

• Foreword David G. Victor; Part I. Setting the Stage: 1. From optimism to pessimism and back again; 2. The natural and social science of climate change; 3. The solution space and its distractions; Part II. Failed Strategies to Reduce Emissions: 4. Getting the prices right; 5. Striking a global bargain; 6. Changing the way we live; Part III. Successful Strategies to Move Us Away from Fossil Fuels: 7. Theories of transition; 8. Strategic technologies; 9. Energiewende in the German power sector; 10. Policies beyond power; 11. Pulling it all together; Index.