Climate policy portfolios that accelerate emission reductions

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Wilson, Charlie, Arvanitopoulos, Theodoros, Schaub, Simon, Jordan, Andrew, Tosun, Jale and Vasilakos, Nicholas (2026) Climate policy portfolios that accelerate emission reductions. Nature Communications, 17 (1). ISSN 2041-1723

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Abstract

The corpus of national climate policies continues to grow - but to what effect? Using data on 3,917 policy instruments across 43 OECD countries and major emerging economies from 2000-2022, we show that national climate policy portfolios specializing in instrument types and sectors are associated with faster reductions in fossil CO 2 emission intensity. Supported by exemplar country case studies, we also provide quantitative evidence that the effectiveness of climate policy is amplified by long-term emission reduction targets and the presence of dedicated governmental bodies including ministries and intergovernmental organisations. The cumulative effect of all climate policy portfolios over our study period amounts to 3.1 GtCO 2 fewer emissions in 2022 relative to a no-policy counterfactual - substantially less than what’s needed to stay on track for the Paris Agreement goals.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: sdg 13 - climate action,4* ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action
Faculty \ School: University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
Faculty of Social Sciences > Norwich Business School
UEA Research Groups: University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Responsible Business Regulation Group
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 12 Dec 2025 11:30
Last Modified: 14 May 2026 15:04
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/101374
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-68577-z

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