Decision-Making for Uncertainty: Making Governance Systems "Fit for Purpose"

The author contends that climate change is frequently misclassified as a narrow environmental issue, leading to siloed governance and ineffective decision-making. To address the uncertainty and scale of climate impacts, the document advocates for framing climate change as a central strategic risk, establishing statutory duties for action, creating a Cabinet-level Office of Country Risk, and retraining civil service bureaucracies in systems thinking. It highlights examples of progress, such as the UK's Climate Change Act and the US national security community's view of climate change as a "threat multiplier."

• Current governance systems are insufficient for climate change because they treat it as an environmental problem rather than a cross-cutting strategic challenge, resulting in a "siloed" approach where the issue is owned only by low-ranking environmental departments.
• National planning and budgeting often lack climate risk assessments, as evidenced by India's $500 billion infrastructure build-out and Delhi's masterplan, which do not specify climate resilience or vulnerability mapping.
• To make governance "fit for purpose," climate action must be a statutory duty led by the head of government and supported by a Cabinet-level Office of Country Risk and new statutory agencies like green investment banks.
• Effective institutional reform requires retraining the civil service, including middle and senior managers, in climate literacy and systems thinking to overcome cultural resistance within bureaucracies.
• Certain regions have implemented models of integrated risk management: the US national security community views climate change as a "threat multiplier," the UK has codified emissions targets via the Climate Change Act, and Singapore employs a "whole of government" approach using horizon scanning.

APA

Mehra, M. (2010). Decision-Making for Uncertainty: Making Governance Systems "Fit for Purpose". World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2023-01/wrr-2010-11-question-1-response-4.pdf

Chicago

Mehra, Malini. Decision-Making for Uncertainty: Making Governance Systems "Fit for Purpose". World Resources Institute, 2010. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2023-01/wrr-2010-11-question-1-response-4.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mehra |first1=Malini |title=Decision-Making for Uncertainty: Making Governance Systems "Fit for Purpose" |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=2010 |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2023-01/wrr-2010-11-question-1-response-4.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mehra2010decisionmaking, author = {Mehra, Malini}, title = {{Decision-Making for Uncertainty: Making Governance Systems "Fit for Purpose"}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2010}, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2023-01/wrr-2010-11-question-1-response-4.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }