Climate Policy Monitor suggests growth of worldwide climate laws offers resilience to US rollbacks
A new report released by The Climate Policy Monitor – a collaboration between the Blavatnik School of Government and the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme – shows consistent growth in climate regulation since 2020 in all part of the world, even in the face of the USA’s dramatic change in policies under the Trump administration.
Offering an open-access mapping and expert assessment of net zero regulations in key domains, the Monitor’s latest Annual Report, provides a detailed view of how key economic rules across countries and jurisdictions align – or not – to climate goals.
Thom Wetzer, Associate Professor in Law and Finance and co-director of the Climate Policy Monitor, said: ‘The global mushrooming of such rules means that even if requirements weaken in certain jurisdictions, as seen currently in the USA, companies operating across borders will still face increasing global compliance obligations.’
However, the report illustrates that there are many gaps, and rules vary in ambition, comprehensiveness, and stringency, with few meeting the Monitor’s criteria on all three. Under current policies, the United Nations Environment Programme estimates that temperatures will rise by a catastrophic c.3℃ above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century, double the amount committed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Professor Thomas Hale, Professor in Global Public Policy and co-director of the Climate Policy Monitor, said: 'This growth in rules will need to accelerate in order to keep humankind safe. Crucially, the policies will have to be rigorously implemented, not just exist on the books.’
The Monitor currently covers the G20 (whose nations account for almost 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions) plus 11 additional countries that bring economic and geographical diversity, tracking their climate-related policies, both government-led and company-led in those jurisdictions.
Developed through pro-bono partnerships with 48 leading law firms around the world, the Monitor continuously evaluates regulations against 250+ data points. At the recent inaugural Oxford Climate Policy Monitor Annual Symposium, the emerging theme was the need to understand and advise on climate-related legal matters, no matter which way the political winds are blowing. The repeal of federal rules and executive orders in the United States may lower the compliance burdens of some businesses. However, several listed companies in Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, the EU, South Korea, Singapore, Turkey, and the United Kingdom are, or will soon be, required to disclose the physical risks that climate change poses to their operations and business.
The Monitor’s data also shows 27 countries having put in place rules to green their public procurement. Public procurement, or government spending through contracts, represents anywhere between 13 and 20% of countries’ GDP (World Bank 2020). This means potentially huge amounts of public spending are being re-routed towards products and suppliers that align with national climate objectives.
The Hub is a collaboration between the Blavatnik School of Government and the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme (which is a joint initiative of the Oxford Smith School and Oxford's Law Faculty), aiming to build the evidence base and capacity to advance effective, rigorous, and equitable net zero regulation and policy.
Part of the Oxford Net Zero strategic cluster, it was launched in October 2023 as a direct output of the Oxford Martin Programme on Climate Policy with a £1m strategic funding grant from the Oxford Martin School. It is also supported by the EU Horizon ACHIEVE Project.
Oxford Climate Policy Monitor Annual Review 2024