Reports on Climate Change Conferences, 2000-2019

We are delighted to share this collection of editorials and reports on different Conference of the Parties (COPs) and Subsidiary Bodies (SBs) meetings, which Climate Policy Journal has published in the last 20 years. Take a trip down memory lane, and enjoy reading about some of those key landmarks: the collapse of negotiations at The […]

Carbon Pricing and COVID-19

The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted consumption, production and government policy-making. This post and the accompanying paper argue that, despite these challenges, if one were to adopt or strengthen carbon pricing—either carbon taxes or cap & trade—during the COVID-19 crisis would be the time to do it. While carbon pricing has been on the mouths of […]

How to engage people with climate change in times of COVID-19, economic distress and rising populism

At this moment, countries worldwide face three main crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, a looming economic crisis, and a liberal democracy crisis, often exemplified by the rise of populism. What role can we expect the climate change crisis to play in the publics’ mind in times like these? This is an important question to ask for […]

Modelling net-zero emissions energy systems requires a change in approach

Many countries and corporations are in the process of establishing net-zero GHG emission targets. One estimate suggests that such targets are in place or under discussion in countries representing over half of the world economy. This policy response to climate science, catalysed for many by the IPCC Special report in 2018 on Global Warming of […]

It’s not what you say about climate change, it’s how you say it…

Increasing discontent from many – embodied in the gilets jaunes protests in France and around the world – shows that the ambitious policies necessary to tackle the climate emergency require public support and approval to succeed. Governments hold back from introducing ambitious climates measures out of fear of a potential public backlash. Citizens’ assemblies are […]

Politics of carbon pricing

Carbon pricing is often hailed as the key policy response to address climate change. We question this view as it tends to neglect deep-rooted political conflicts and the necessity to fundamentally change carbon-intensive businesses and industries. Carbon pricing has many proponents who argue that it is the most efficient policy to address climate change. Supporters […]

Carbon Contracts for Differences: An essential instrument for European industrial decarbonisation

Carbon Contracts for Differences (CCFD) are one of the elements of the policy package developed by the Climate Friendly Materials Platform (CFMP) in order to help decarbonise European’s industry while preserving its competitiveness. CCfDs may also be an important component of Resilient Recovery Funds (and have been already included in the German national hydrogen strategy […]

What are the challenges and opportunities for factoring climate action into the UAE’s and Oman’s economic diversification strategies?

Climate change brings both challenges and opportunities for economic growth in oil producing countries, which are highly reliant on oil-export revenues. On one hand, if not managed properly, climate change affects both non-oil and oil-based economic sectors. Non-oil economic sectors such as agriculture, food security, water, fisheries, tourism, and infrastructure are already negatively affected by […]

Responding to climate mitigation policymaking as a complex policy problem: the role of approach

COVID-19 has thrown the interconnected and complex systemic nature of our global society into stark relief. It has also sparked many questions within the international climate change community of practice around the lessons of the pandemic for the climate crisis. In a paper for Climate Policy with Dr Brett Cohen, ‘Approaching climate mitigation policymaking in […]

Carbon Lock-in and development in Latin America and the Caribbean: risks and opportunities for recovery from Covid-19

Countries around the world are thinking about how to address the widespread repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic after the urgent and necessary short-term health response. Extraordinary resources are being made available by governments to relaunch economies and to support vulnerable segments of the society. These mid- and long-term stimulus packages hold both the potential of […]