Game theory and Moroccan energy

A collection of climate stories mostly

Brands behaving badly

Brands that don’t care enough, if at all

What has Game Theory, got to do with climate change?

Photo by Johnson Wang on Unsplash

Last week the Conservative government finally announced its 1,000 page, climate strategy plan, already criticised for doing little to support energy security in the UK. There’s a myriad of other things wrong with it, depending on your point of view, but you can read all about that elsewhere.

What we have playing out here, is something called the Tragedy of the Commons,which is a game theory predicament. Everyone does what is rational for them. The problem is, it leaves everyone else worse off when we all choose to behave in the same way.

Game theory focuses on how people or organisations interact when resources are limited, there’s a finite amount of time and potentially a number of desired outcomes. Sounds like the thorny issue of climate change.

There are plenty of examples where tragedies of the commons confront us.

If I choose to take the tube to Ealing Golf Club rather than the car, my individual act doesn’t save the planet…