Climate Policy Across the Globe: Lessons Learned and Key Challenges

While global climate negotiations are stalled, a surprising development is underway. In the last decade, regional, national and subnational actions to combat climate change have proliferated. Governments are making it possible to build new, clean sources of energy, regulating industries for greater energy efficiency and encouraging better land-use practices. Their accumulated experience can provide lessons on how to combat climate change faster and more cheaply. Climate Policy Initiative, a global policy effectiveness analysis and advisory organization led by Thomas C. Heller, explores this experience in five key emissions regions—the U.S., China, India, Brazil and Europe—in the inaugural edition of “The Policy Climate” report. Focusing on the most emissions-intensive industry sectors in these regions, the report presents three decades of evidence on emissions trends, economic and industry drivers of emissions, and policy activity.

On April 15, Global Economy and Development at Brookings and Climate Policy Initiative hosted a discussion on “The Policy Climate” and how findings from the report can influence future global climate policy. Climate Policy Initiative Senior Director David Nelson gave a short presentation, followed by a panel discussion. Panelists included Thomas C. Heller, CPI executive director; Heather Zichal, deputy assistant to the president for Energy and Climate Change in the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy; and Jennifer Morgan, director the Climate and Energy Program at World Resources Institute. Brookings Senior Fellow Katherine Sierra moderated the discussion.