In this masterclass, Thomas Hale examined the challenge of governing “long problems” like climate change, issues whose consequences unfold over many generations. Past emissions shape today’s climate, just as our actions now will shape the world for centuries to come. Yet climate policy and politics are dominated by short-term priorities. Even the social sciences often fail to fully account for time in how they frame and analyse such problems. Drawing on his latest book Long Problems: Climate Change and the Challenge of Governing Across Time, Thomas explores why societies find it so difficult to act before a problem’s impacts are felt, why the interests of future generations carry little political weight, and why existing institutions struggle to balance durability with adaptability. He outlined how understanding climate change as a “lengthened” problem, much like globalisation “widened” problems across borders, opens up new ways of thinking about governance. The session discussed strategies that can help anticipate future needs and risks, shift political time horizons, set forward-looking goals that endure, and use climate action as a catalyst for broader institutional transformation.
Thomas Hale: Long problems: climate change and the challenge of governing across time
- Date
- 23 October 2025
- Time
- 12:00-13:00 CET
About
Speaker
Thomas Hale
Professor of Global Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
Thomas Hale is Professor of Global Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. His research explores how we can manage transnational problems effectively and fairly. He seeks to explain how political institutions evolve – or not – to face the challenges raised by globalisation and interdependence, with a particular emphasis on environmental, economic and health issues. He holds a PhD in Politics from Princeton University, a master's degree in Global Politics from the London School of Economics, and an AB in public policy from Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. A US national, Professor Hale has studied and worked in Argentina, China and Europe. His books include Long Problems: Climate Change and the Challenge of Governing Across Time (Princeton 2024), Beyond Gridlock (Polity 2017), Between Interests and Law: The Politics of Transnational Commercial Disputes (Cambridge 2015), Transnational Climate Change Governance (Cambridge 2014), and Gridlock: Why Global Cooperation Is Failing when We Need It Most (Polity 2013). Professor Hale co-leads the Net Zero Tracker and the Climate Policy Hub.