Climate Economist Ottmar Edenhofer on Misconceptions in Climate Policy
“However, empiricism has a hard time in the public debate against anecdotal evidence – after all, many parliamentarians in their constituencies know owners of oil heating systems, commuters and people living in poorly insulated houses. Unfortunately, the colorful individual case is more appealing in talk shows than statistical average values. But since politics should not regulate the individual case, but is committed to the entirety of the voters, a look at the empiricism is worthwhile.”
– Climate Economist Ottmar Edenhofer in “How fair climate policy works – In the heated public debate about higher CO² prices, numerous misconceptions dominate instead of facts…”, guest commentary in Handelsblatt, June 16, 2021, page 48, No. 113
Ottmar Edenhofer is Director of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) in Berlin, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Professor of the Economics of Climate Change at the TU Berlin. In 2020, the climate economist received the German Environmental Award for CO2 pricing.
