Comparing National Climate Policies and Laws

The EU member states are key to the EU’s binding objective of climate neutrality. The core question is whether the national climate policies and legal approaches succeed in contributing to the collective European climate obligation, particularly in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. On the one hand, EU member states are bound by the many rules of EU law on climate change mitigation and energy. On the other hand, there remains a wide margin of discretion for national governments to design specific policies and regulatory approaches. Examples of this discretion include the adoption of national climate acts, the establishment of national scientific boards, methods for engaging civil society, and the provision of financial support.

The focus of this special issue includes a comparative study of national climate policies and laws in the EU aimed at helping to achieve the EU’s climate goals. 

Read the Special Issue

• How governments address climate change through carbon pricing intensity by Lisa Klagges
• The challenge of monitoring policy mixes for reducing emissions from buildings by Jonas J. Schoenefeld, Mikael Hildén & Sara-Tuuli Siiskonen
• What, how and where: an assessment of multi-level European climate mitigation policies by Margherita Bellanca
• Role of local governments in EU member states’ climate policy and legislation by Robert Kastelein
• The stringency and potential impact of climate laws and policies in the European Union and the 21OECD countries by Detlef Jahn
• Do climate acts of EU countries enable the most vulnerable to participate in climate policymaking? by Tuula Honkonen

Helge Jörgens, Sai Ma, Marjan Peeters, Jale Tosun & Marijn van der Sluis were editors on this  Special Issue: "Comparing National Climate Policies and Laws" of npj Climate Action. npj Climate Action considers research that explores all aspects of mitigating the hazardous effects of global climate change. The journal offers more choice to Nature Portfolio authors who are seeking a fully open-access and more inclusive platform for publishing their work. The journal is led by climate change experts who collaborate to cultivate high-quality research.