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Explaining Worldwide Climate Change Policy
By Kent R. Kroeger (July 3, 2018)
With release of GermanWatch.org’s Climate Change Performance Index for 2018, we are starting to better understand the most significant drivers and barriers facing countries trying to address climate change.
Based on an analysis of GermanWatch’s policy and environmental data for 56 countries in 2017, combined with data from Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2018 Report and the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom, the following conclusions are drawn about the factors driving climate change policy in the world today:
(1) Addressing climate change is still predominately a European-led project.
(2) Countries facing the greatest risks from climate change are less likely to implement strong climate change policies.
(3) Political and social freedom is associated with stronger climate change policies.
(4) However, labor freedom, has a negative impact on climate change policies.
(5) And, finally, economic prosperity (as measured by GDP per capita) is still, all else equal, associated with negative climate policies and outcomes.
This last finding has hampered the climate change policy debate since its inception and still stands as the biggest political…
