According to a study, only 63 out of 1,500 political climate protection measures in the last 20 years have been successful on the large scale required. The success stories have something in common.
Whether strict regulations, subsidies or price incentives: numerous climate protection measures have been introduced over the past 20 years. It often remains unclear which of them are really effective. Researchers have now found that only 63 of 1,500 climate measures over the past two decades have led to significant emissions reductions worldwide.
According to the information, a reduction of at least 5 to 10 percent was considered significant. The average value for successful cases was 19 percent.
What these success stories have in common, according to the study published in the journal “Science”, is that they rely on the leverage of tax and price incentives. And they point out that a mix of approaches should be used: “Our results clearly show that the success of climate measures depends on the right mix of instruments,” explains lead author Annika Stechemesser from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).
“More does not automatically help more”
According to the study, it is not enough to rely on subsidies or regulation alone. “More does not automatically help more,” says Nicolas Koch, also lead author from PIK and Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC).
Bans on coal-fired power plants in the electricity sector or on combustion engines in transport are examples of this: According to a press release, the researchers found no case in which such bans alone led to significant reductions in emissions. They only achieved a reduction in combination with tax and price incentives.
For the study, the research team led by PIK and MCC evaluated 1,500 climate measures from 41 countries across 6 continents from 1998 to 2022.
Different countries, different measures
A mix of measures is particularly effective in economically developed countries, it said. For Germany, the researchers cite the eco-tax reform from 1999 and the truck toll in 2005 as successful measures in the transport sector. It is the only policy combination that has so far led to a significant reduction in emissions in this country.
Other countries are relying on a different mix of measures: The USA has reduced the burden on the transport sector through tax incentives, subsidies for environmentally friendly vehicles and CO2 efficiency standards.
In the electricity sector, for example, the combination of a minimum CO2 price, subsidies for renewable energies and a coal phase-out plan proved particularly successful in Great Britain.
In the building sector in Sweden, it was the mix of CO2 pricing and subsidy programs for renovations and heating system changes.
Measures cannot be transferred 1:1
Proven best practices can be derived from the results. “Across the building, electricity, industry and transport sectors and in both industrialized countries and the often neglected developing countries,” says Koch.
Although the measures from the various countries “cannot necessarily be transferred 1:1 to others”, the mix of measures from the success stories could provide guidance for similarly developed countries, says Stechemesser. “We believe that this orientation knowledge is of great importance in supporting politics and society in the transformation to climate neutrality.”
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
