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Climate policy

Risk-averse governments

Relative to the scale of the problem, climate policies worldwide have failed. Now research explains why policy innovations are often inadequate, routinely reflecting the aversion of policymakers to the risk of failure.

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Correspondence to Paul G. Harris.

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Harris, P. Risk-averse governments. Nature Clim Change 4, 245–246 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2176

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