Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford Kyoto: The Battle that Defined Climate Politics - with Joe Robertson
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Nov 21, 2025 
Joe Robertson, a playwright known for the gripping play Kyoto, shares insights into the high-stakes world of climate politics. He delves into the disruptive tactics of lobbyist Don Perlman, who embodied the challenges of the 1997 climate negotiations. Robertson explains how strategies of doubt and misinformation were weaponized, paralleling tactics from the tobacco industry. He also highlights the importance of small island nations as moral leaders and examines the legacy of Kyoto, questioning its effectiveness in shaping future climate policy.
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Human Exhaustion Shapes Big Agreements
- Kyoto's final hours exposed how exhausted negotiators and chaotic logistics threaten multilateral outcomes.
- Such human factors can determine whether high-stakes international deals succeed or collapse.
Kyoto As A Parable Of Polarisation
- The writers saw Kyoto as a parable about polarization and the difficulty of reaching agreement.
- They translated negotiation drama into theatre to show how divided discourse undermines cooperation.
Finding Don Perlman In The Footnotes
- Joe Robertson discovered Don Perlman through footnotes and interviews and found little online about him.
- Perlman emerged as a brilliant strategist who moved from government to representing oil interests in the 1990s.
