Dr. Felix Pretis. Credit: UVic Photo Service

Do climate policies work? An international research team found only 63 out of 1500 climate policies have led to substantial emissions reductions over the past two decades. The groundbreaking study published in Science reveals the keys to success according to shared characteristics for these cases: inclusion of tax and price incentives in well-designed policy mixes.

“Rather than assessing isolated policies on their own, we search for significant drops in emissions and then aim to link those reductions to possible policies implemented at the time.”

An accompanying website, the "Climate Policy Explorer", offers a comprehensive and interactive overview of the results, analysis and methods. The site is available to the public.

“This knowledge is vital for supporting policymakers and society in the transition to climate neutrality,” says lead author Annika Stechemesser, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.