NewClimate Institute, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and IIASA present an overview of on climate and energy policies in 25 major emitting countries and regions that have been adopted since July 2017. The policy information compiled by in this document supplements the earlier 2017 update report on the projected greenhouse gas emissions under currently implemented policies and mitigation commitments in 25 countries and regions. Not only the qualitative descriptions of policies but also their possible implications on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions projections in 2030 are provided whenever available.
New policies identified that could help meeting long-term decarbonisation goals
In this document we have identified several newly adopted policies that support the transition towards long-term decarbonisation consistent with the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement. Such policies include: carbon tax, phase-out or phase-down of coal power plants, continued and strengthened support for renewable energy, electric vehicles, energy-efficient buildings, and strengthening of the 2030 mitigation targets (NDCs).
The 25 countries and regions assessed in this document are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, the European Union (EU), India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States. These 25 countries and regions cover all of G20 countries (excluding the four individual EU member states) and comprise 79% of total global GHG emissions in 2012.
The adopted policies in this document are defined as legislative decisions, executive orders, or their equivalent. This excludes publicly announced plans or strategies, while policy instruments to implement such plans or strategies would qualify. Ultimately, however, these definitions could be interpreted differently, and therefore this assessment is bound by the interpretations that our research group uses. We further only include the measures that have direct effect on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and thus do not include all supporting policies or policy instruments, such as regulation on monitoring and reporting emissions, or sector-specific supporting policies. Note that planned policies or proposed policies have also been included in some instances when they were considered to be important.
