What makes European climate policies effective?

How effective are European climate policies?  And why are some measures are more effective than others?  These were the questions guiding a meta-analysis of 262 climate policy evaluations at the European Union level and in six member states: Finland, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland and Portugal.  The results indicate that precise design, interaction between different policy instruments and consequent monitoring are key to developing effective climate policies.

The EU has proclaimed itself to be a global leader in fighting climate change, but has struggled to fully implement its commitments.  Our findings suggest that it was mainly the capacity of climate policies to deliver co-benefits, such as energy security or technological innovation, which has enabled their adoption to date.  Over the longer term, if more ambitious emission reduction targets are to be met, this problem framing may need to give way to a more radical one, with a greater degree of demand management and willingness to address established sectoral priorities.

Broadly, policies may be regulatory, market-based or voluntary. The extent of reliance on voluntary actions and agreements is a concern commonly found in policy evaluation reports.  In general, voluntary agreements appear to be effective only when combined with the threat of regulation.  Yet, ultimately, what may be most significant is not so much the type of policy instrument as its precise design and interactions with other measures. As the climate “policy space” becomes increasingly congested, positive interaction between policy instruments becomes all the more important.

On the interrelation between EU and national policies, the former seem to have acted as essential drivers for national mitigation action in ‘late-comer’ member states (e.g. Poland), while leaving room for ‘first-mover’ states (e.g. Germany or the UK) to set more ambitious targets.  Moreover, a growing consensus indicates that a greater degree of harmonisation across the Union will be needed for some key policies to achieve their full potential.   

Finally, one striking conclusion to emerge from the analysis is the weak arrangements made for the monitoring of many policy instruments – a prerequisite for rigorous implementation and enforcement.  Few evaluation studies state the emissions reductions achieved by specific policy measures in quantitative terms.  Yet, being able to determine the impact of policies on emissions is essential for the EU to meet the ambitious climate change goals it has set for itself.  In sum, our analysis shows that although policies may not get it right first time, through monitoring and smart redesign it is often possible to enhance the effectiveness of policy packages.
 

For more information see Work Package P2 contact: Constanze Haug, Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, , or Tim Rayner, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia, Norwich