Climate change policy initiatives gone wrong: The cobra effect

Sometimes attempted solutions to a problem makes the problem worse via unintended consequences. In public policy, we label such faux pas as the “Cobra effect“. More commonly, this is just another version of the old joke that goes: the operation was a success, but the patient died. It is well documented that several policy mistakes have occurred in the context of climate change-related initiatives. It is essential, therefore, that when we design, debate, and implement climate change policy initiatives, we carefully consider any unintended consequences that may exacerbate the problem rather than resolve it.