G20 Climate Action at Brisbane

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"And following the steps we’ve taken in the United States, many of the G20 countries agreed to work to improve the efficiency of heavy-duty vehicles, which would be another major step in reducing emissions."

​President Obama remarks at G20 Press Conference | November 16, 2014

 As depicted in John Kingdon's seminal work, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policy, a policy entrepreneur is someone who looks for the right political and bureaucratic conditions to press their pet proposal. In this case of entrepreneurship, I started with an idea for something G20 leaders could do to cut greenhouse gases: collectively commit themselves to boost motor vehicle fuel economy. After I laid the ground through coalition-building and meetings with senior officials in Washington and other capitals, it was gratifying when the November 2014 Brisbane G20 Summit commissioned a new task group on fuel economy—to be coordinated by the United States and with my coalition partners serving as expert resources.

In this case, the advocacy was aimed at affecting high-level diplomacy. Just like Kingdon's policy entrepreneur, advocates must couch their proposals as solutions to the problems policymakers feel responsible for solving. For a diplomatic  process such as the G20, it's  a question of the sort of measures (aka "deliverables") the heads of government want to announce at their summit.

Looking at the G20 role on climate change, I saw a high-profile global forum under-performing on the great global challenge of our time. Not only did the group have the means to do more, I expected G20 leaders would feel a mounting sense of responsibility to produce meaningful outcomes on climate. At the outset, my idea was based on two premises: 1) the most significant climate action of President Obama's first term was to raise fuel economy standards and 2) these kinds of regulations could be well suited for the world's major economies to take collective action.