Presentation integrates three related collaborative projects on multi-stakeholder policy learning (Humphreys et al. 2017, Cashore and Lupberger 2016), public/private instrument mixes (Cashore 2017, Cashore and Stone 2014), and post-Paris climate change solutions (Cashore et al. 2016) to advance three arguments. First, drawing on Ostrom for inspiration (Cashore and Bernstein 2018), instrument design must be derived inductively based on the structural features of target problem in question. Second, the global climate crisis is a ‘super wicked’ problem (Levin et al. 2012) defined by four key features: time is running out; no central authority exists, those wishing to solve the problem are also causing it, and the future is discounted irrationally. Third, and related, successful intervention for addressing the climate crisis requires triggering ‘path dependent’ multiple step policy pathways that, together, work to constrain our future selves to champion our long-term interests. I draw on multiple collaborative projects within climate finance (Auld et al. 2018), technology (Cashore, Howlett, and Sewerin In progress), and forest resources management (Yona, Cashore, and Schmitz 2017 to be submitted) to illustrate how multi-disciplinary policy learning initiatives can uncover innovative solutions for triggering decarbonization.