Information Consensus in Expert-Decision Maker Networks Facilitate Cooperation to Avoid Climate Catastrophes

Many global challenges characterizing the anthropocene, from climate change to food security and biodiversity loss, are wicked problems, characterized by complexity, nonlinearity, and the lack of a clearly defined solution. In order to solve these challenges, the solutions require cooperation across scales. In this context, scientists assemble into institutions of varying structural complexity to produce scientific information which policymakers take into account to varying degrees. In particular, institutions at the science-policy interface including global environmental assessments, which are formal efforts to assemble knowledge to support decision making, play an important role. This talk will discuss ongoing work aiming at understanding the role of scientific assessments in enabling cooperation for global environmental challenges, focusing on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). To do so, we use a game theoretical framework to examine how aggregation of scientific information through a consensus process such as the IPCC affects cooperation among states to address climate change. Results indicate that sharing information through assessments and reaching scientific consensus expands the conditions for sustaining cooperation and promotes more equitable mobilization of resources.