Climate change-related laws and policies refer to legal documents related to reducing energy demand, promoting low carbon energy supply, low-carbon buildings, carbon pricing, lower industry emissions, tackling deforestation and promoting sustainable land use, other mitigation efforts, research and development, sustainable transportation, enhancing adaptation capabilities, and natural disaster risk management. The dataset only included laws and policies that have been passed by legislative branches or published by executive branches, and that are no longer in draft form. The dataset also captures major amendments to legislation. Laws that are outdated, either because they have been repealed, replaced, or reversed, are not included.
The database distinguishes between Laws or legislative acts (e.g. acts, laws, decree-laws), which were passed by a parliament or equivalent legislative authority, and Policies, or other executive provisions (e.g. presidential decrees, executive orders, regulations, government policies, strategies, or plans), which were published or decreed by the government, president, or equivalent executive authority.
| Dataset type: | Other |
| Dataset level: | Country |
(Grantham Research Institute on
Climate Change and the Environment & Sabin Center for Climate Change
Law, 2021)
Number of climate change-related policies or other executive provisions (e.g., presidential decrees, executive orders, regulations, government policies, strategies, or plans), which were published or decreed by the government, president, or equivalent executive authority, in the recorded year.
More about this variableNumber of climate change-related laws or legislative acts (e.g. acts, laws, decree-laws), which were passed by a parliament or equivalent legislative authority, in the recorded year.
More about this variableNumber of climate change-related laws (legislative acts) and policies (executive provisions) adopted per year.
More about this variableNumber of laws (legislative acts) or policies (executive provisions) related to climate change mitigation adopted per year. Mitigation laws and policies refer to a legislative or executive disposition focused on curbing a country's greenhouse gases emissions in one sector or more. Measures can be directly related to emissions reductions, such as laws establishing a national carbon budget or cap and trade system, or indirectly related, such as laws or policies establishing relevant institutions or providing additional funding for research and development into low carbon technologies. Laws and policies addressing forests and land use are included as long as they explicitly support climate change mitigation through activities that reduce emissions and increase carbon removals. General forest management and conservation laws are not included, even if they may have implicit consequences for climate change mitigation.
More about this variableCumulative sum of climate change-related policies or other executive provisions (e.g. presidential decrees, executive orders, regulations, government policies, strategies, or plans), which were published or decreed by the government, president, or equivalent executive authority.
More about this variableCumulative sum of climate change-related laws or legislative acts (e.g. acts, laws, decree-laws), which were passed by a parliament or equivalent legislative authority.
More about this variableCumulative sum of laws (legislative acts) and policies (executive provisions) related to climate change.
More about this variableCumulative sum of laws (legislative acts) and policies (executive provisions) related to climate change mitigation. Mitigation laws and policies refer to a legislative or executive disposition focused on curbing a country's greenhouse gases emissions in one sector or more. Measures can be directly related to emissions reductions, such as laws establishing a national carbon budget or cap and trade system, or indirectly related, such as laws or policies establishing relevant institutions or providing additional funding for research and development into low carbon technologies. Laws and policies addressing forests and land use are included as long as they explicitly support climate change mitigation through activities that reduce emissions and increase carbon removals. General forest management and conservation laws are not included, even if they may have implicit consequences for climate change mitigation.
More about this variable