Search

In 2022, Saudi Arabia's anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions amounted to 810 million tons of CO 2 e. The country has pledged to cut its emissions by 278 million tons of CO 2 e per year by 2030. This paper contributes a modeling view on the climate-related effects of various energy policies on the Saudi energy system. We use an energy system model designed to represent seven sectors in the Saudi economy. In addition to a baseline, which entails the continuation of current domestic policies, we look at a scenario that incorporates some of the plans announced by the Saudi government. We also examine the baseline scenario with a cap on total CO 2 emissions equal to those exhibited with the announced plans. The model then makes the necessary decisions to abate CO 2. We find that the energy system contributes 130 million tons of CO 2 e to the nationally determined contribution amount in 2030. Also, a non-prescriptive scenario that caps energy-system CO 2 emissions produces the same emissions reductions as the announced plans while lowering the present cost by 2030 by $70 billion. The corresponding implicit marginal abatement cost of CO 2 approaches 35 $/tonCO 2 by 2045. This cost would displace around half of crude and fuel oil use in the Saudi energy system. • Saudi Arabia plans to cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by 278 million tonsCO 2 e. • We use a multi-sector model built from the ground up for Saudi Arabia. • The energy system can contribute 130 million tons of CO 2 e in reductions in 2030. • We find a scenario that achieves GHG abatement at a lower cost than official plans. • The marginal value attributed to CO 2 approaches 35 $ per tonCO 2 by 2045. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationship between climate policy uncertainty (CPU) risk and the volatility of sovereign bond return (SBV) in 43 economies from 2012 to 2021. It also innovatively examines how the volatility and asymmetry of CPU affect SBV. The study utilizes the GARCH-MIDAS model to handle mixed-frequency data and applies the DCC-GARCH and TVP-VAR-DY models to investigate dynamic correlations and spillover effects. The empirical results show that CPU negatively impacts SBV, while CPU's volatility or positive shocks tend to elevate SBV, especially in more climate-resilient developed economies. In addition, critical international events can influence dynamic correlations and spillover effects between CPU (or its volatility) and SBV, particularly when climate policy is highly valued. From a risk transmission standpoint within the sovereign bond system, CPU and its volatility exert positive net spillover effects on SBV in the majority of economies. This study offers valuable insights for investors and policymakers, aligning with the goals of sustainable development for effective management of CPU risks. [Display omitted] • Climate policy uncertainty adversely affects sovereign bond volatility. • Positive shocks, climate policy uncertainty volatility boost bond volatility. • Climate policy uncertainty broadly impacts climate-resilient developed economies. • Global events influence the spillover effects of climate policy uncertainty. • Climate policy uncertainty is an informational transmitter to bond volatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions is an essential element of climate change policies. This paper explores Dutch dairy farmers' adoption behaviour of climate change mitigation measures using a Self-regulated Stage model of Behavioural Change. It tests the statistical relationship of stage-specific socio-psychological factors with individual farmer's intentions of planning or adopting on-farm climate mitigation measures. In addition, it tests the statistical relationship of intentions on four stages (pre-decisional, pre-actional, actional, post-actional). The empirical application focuses on data from specialised Dutch dairy farmers registered with the Farm Accountancy Data Network. Our findings suggest that negative emotion, personal norm, perceived goal feasibility, action planning, and coping planning vary significantly by stage. Furthermore, personal norm, attitude, goal intention, behavioural intention, and implementation intention are found to be statistically significant and positive influencing factors on adopting climate mitigation measures. Lastly, farmers younger than 45 years old with full agricultural education and farms with high livestock density are more likely to have taken steps in adopting mitigation measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of climate policies will determine CO 2 emissions and goal achievement. However, the coupled integration among driving factors on emissions is not given enough attention and analysis in most quantitative modeling. To clarify the effectiveness of de-carbonization pathways, here we identify coupled factors documented across a range of studies and connect them in a coupled system framework. The empirical analysis reveals the de-carbonization significance and potential of coupled variables in the GBA. These potentials can be decisive for determining policies and emission outcomes. After in-depth spatial and time-fixed analysis, spatial spillover effects of driving factors are identified. And the driving effect of the independent variable is further decomposed into direct effect and indirect effect to show a complex coupled correlation. The novelty of this study is that it explores the coupled correlation among driving factors and quantitatively verified these relationships. Research findings have important reference value for policymakers in assisting de-carbonization strategies design. • Proposed a Coupled system framework to connect driving factors. • Identified driving factors for implementing de-carbonization goals in the GBA. • Used an integrated STIRPAT-SDM model to empirical analysis. • Extended transportation factor to clarify its direct and indirect de-carbonization potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses an enormous challenge to countries across the world. News is a crucial channel to draw society's attention to this issue and strengthen climate governance initiatives, such as carbon emission reduction. The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of carbon-related news on carbon emissions and carbon transfer. First, we analyzed the topics of carbon-related news from media outlets such as ABC , CNN , and The Guardian from 2009 to 2019. Then, we calculated the carbon emissions from both production- and consumption-based perspectives and constructed the carbon transfer network of major countries around the world. Finally, we examined the direct and lag effects of carbon-related news attention and contents on carbon emissions and carbon transfer by using the extended population, affluence, and technology (STIRPAT) model as the analytical framework. The results showed the following. First, countries are paying increasing attention to carbon-related issues with the rise of global carbon emissions, and they mainly focus on the social aspects of carbon emissions. Second, there are differences in production- and consumption-based carbon emissions by country. The amount of embodied carbon transfer between countries has increased over time and the carbon transfer network has become tighter. Finally, carbon-related news has a positive impact on improving carbon emissions and carbon transfer worldwide. Different news topics have also shown varying effects on carbon emissions and carbon transfer. In summary, this study further revealed the impacts of carbon-related news on carbon emissions and transfer and accordingly provided policy implications in carbon emission reduction for the government. • The evolution of carbon-related news topics are analyzed. • The effects of carbon-related news on carbon emissions and carbon transfer are investigated. • Carbon-related news has a positive impact on improving carbon emissions and carbon transfer worldwide. • Different news topics have led to different effects on carbon emissions and carbon transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resources and energy sectors make a significant contribution to economic performance in the economies of West Asia. In this study we explore the effect ambitious policies for resource efficiency and greenhouse gas abatement would have on West Asian economies and what their contribution to environmental sustainability could look like. We employ the Global Trade and Environmental Resource Model (GTEM-Resource) to empirically assess the economic and environmental implications of global policy initiatives in the region. Results show that resource efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement policies are complementary in their effects. Resource efficiency policies boost resource use productivity in the region, reduce all categories of material extraction based on sustainable consumption and production behaviour and also caused by trade, and foster economic performance. By contrast, GHG emission abatement policies have a small effect on resource productivity but drive significant GHG reductions that are accompanied by reduced economic performance. When these two policies are combined, real GDP in West Asia is projected to increase by 8% relative to business-as-usual by 2060, while resource extraction and GHG emissions levels in the region would decline dramatically by 40% and 50%, respectively. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would be much better off, compared to other countries in the region, with large increases in real GDP and major reductions in GHG emissions and resource extraction levels. Findings suggest that technology development and climate mitigation policies would result in a win-win solution for all countries in West Asia, contributing to maintaining well-being and protecting the environment on regional and global scales. This shows that there is a pathway to economic prosperity for resource-rich countries and regions. • Resource Efficiency policies substantially foster economic growth in West Asia. • The Towards Sustainability scenario maintains sustainable development in West Asia. • Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Oman reduce their material extraction rates by over 46% by 2060. • Well-being indicators grow faster than resource extraction, with improved resource productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change communication power is an important variable to characterize the influence of climate change information. To deeply understand the public's climate change communication power in China under the "dual carbon" context, this study selected Weibo as the source for obtaining climate change texts and analyzed the spatial-temporal differences of climate change communication power by using a web crawler and a communication power model. Through the comparative analysis of the two periods before and after the "dual carbon" goal was put forward, it is found that: (1) After the "dual carbon" goal was put forward, the public's discussion on climate change was more widely distributed, which formed a concerned circle of climate change in coastal areas, but the extensive discussion on climate change did not mean the enhancement of climate change communication. (2) Celebrities play an important role in the communication of climate change, but users with strong communication power for climate change do not mean that the amount of forwarding must be high. (3) The communication power of climate change is generally in a state of fluctuation, and economically developed areas have stronger communication power. (4) Keywords such as "carbon footprint" and "green technology" are the most powerful in the situation after the "dual carbon" goal was put forward. Based on the comparative analysis, the study grasps the role orientation and division of labor as a whole, which will provide a basis for formulating regional climate change-related policies more pertinently. The introduction of z-index into the study of climate change transmission in Weibo is an innovation in the application scenario of z-index. • The z index is firstly applied into the calculation of climate change communication power on Weibo. • A comparative analysis of climate change communication power under a dual-carbon scenario is conducted. • A spatial-temporal difference analysis of climate change communication power is conducted. • Climate change communication power is stronger in economically developed regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models have proven to be instrumental in the climate policy literature. Although their use at the sub-national level has increased, their application to assess the implications of national climate policies on cities is scarce due to the low availability of city-level economic and environmental data. Cities could play an instrumental role in the fight against climate change as they are home to more than half of the world population, generate more than 80% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and are responsible for 75% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. National CGE assessments of climate policies overlooking cities could result in missing major opportunities to achieve ambitious reduction targets considering that cities are centres of innovation and wealth. Hence, the objective of this study is to fill that gap in the literature by developing and using a recursive dynamic, multi-regional CGE model to link a city's economy to the rest of the nation to assess the direct and indirect economic impacts from national GHG emissions reduction pathways. The city of Auckland, New Zealand (NZ) has been used as a case study due to the city's proactive climate mitigation plans. The model and scenarios used resemble the ones developed by the New Zealand Climate Change Commission (CCC) to inform national policy advise provided to the government. Additional scenarios were developed to incorporate Auckland's growth and climate strategies. The results showed that in contrast to the rest of New Zealand, the impacts on the Auckland economy are more pronounced as reflected by the more drastic percent changes (with respect to baseline) of the regional GDP (−6% for Auckland and −1% for NZ) and consumer welfare (−5% for Auckland and 1% for NZ). The more pronounced impacts on Auckland are due to the difference in profile emissions (e.g., urban versus rural sectors), fewer low-emission technological alternatives (e.g., rural technologies do not cater to urban sectors' needs), and indirect impacts from importing agricultural products with a higher price tag due to rising GHG prices. This study's contribution in the climate policy literature is to serve as evidence and precedent to carefully evaluate the nuances encountered in complex urban systems when developing national climate policies considering that the number of countries establishing legally binding reduction targets is continually increasing. [Display omitted] • CGE model used to assess climate policy implications on case of Auckland, New Zealand. • Study based on national assessment of pathways by the country's Climate Commission. • Impact on city's economy is higher than nation's due to differing emissions profiles. • National low-emission technological alternatives do not cater to urban sectors' needs. • Study is precedent to integrate urban systems' nuances in national climate policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pressure to change agricultural practices in order to mitigate emissions is high, with persisting environmental, social, and economic dimensions. In December 2020, the Government of Canada released A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy , a climate plan that proposed Canada's first national emission reduction target for the agricultural sector. This target aimed to reduce fertilizer-based emissions by 30 percent of 2020 levels by 2030. This target relies on the adoption of Best Management Practices for fertilizer use at the on-farm level. Choice to adopt the emission reduction strategies and practices is ultimately decided by the landowner, operator, and/or producer. The proposed target was met with significant resistance opposition from producers and producer groups across Canada's agricultural sector, particularly in western Canada, with claims that the target was the equivalent to a ban on fertilizer. This research aims to better understand the attitudes and perceptions towards the emission reduction target and more generally around emissions mitigation strategies within the crop sectors. This report takes a qualitative approach by conducting 26 h-long interviews with stakeholders along the production chain. Interviews with producers, geneticists, actors in crop inputs and manufacturing, and stakeholders in agricultural production policy and advocacy were conducted over July and August 2022. Participants were asked questions about climate change, the role of different levels of government in the development of emission regulations, potential strategies on a short- and long-term horizon basis, and incentives. Interviews were transcribed and categorically defined, highlighting reoccurring themes. These themes provide insight into awareness of different strategies considered by different actors within the agricultural supply chain, and potentially anticipate avenues which the Government of Alberta should prioritize in developing policies. Ensuring future protocols account for benchmarks of current agricultural operations and management is critical for accessible and producer-inclusive policy, that optimizes transition risks and secures the pathway forward, balancing the precarious equilibrium of burden on agricultural producers, food security, and sustainable, resilient agriculture. • Significant disconnect between government objectives and on-farm operations. • Require re-investment in agricultural extension programs and services. • A need to demonstrate the benefits of adopting certain on-farm strategies. • Need to re-establish trust in the relationship between government and producers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, the United States produced 4.7 billion metric tons of CO 2 , making it the world's second-largest polluter. To achieve the SDGs, the United States has committed to reducing net CO 2 emissions by 50–52% from 2005 levels by 2030. Therefore, this study examines the co-movement between CO 2 and coal efficiency, climate policy uncertainty, green energy, and green innovation using data from 1990 to 2020. To support policymakers in developing sustainable energy policies at various times, we used wavelet cohesion, wavelet correlation, wavelet coherence, and the novel causality in continuous wavelet transform to investigate these connections. The wavelet coherence and wavelet cohesion results revealed that coal efficiency contributes to reducing CO2 emissions at different frequencies and times, while climate policy uncertainty reduces CO2 emissions in the long term. Moreover, green energy consumption and green innovation improve ecological quality by reducing CO 2 in the short and medium term. Furthermore, wavelet causality analysis revealed that all indicators could predict CO2 emissions at different frequencies and time periods. Based on the overall findings of this research, we recommend that policymakers in the United States support green energy and energy efficiency initiatives as the most effective ways to reduce CO 2 and address other critical climate issues. [Display omitted] • We explore the impact of climate policy uncertainty and coal efficiency on CO 2 emissions. • The role of green innovation and green energy are also analyzed in time and frequency. • The Time series data of the United States is used from 1990/Q1 to 2020/Q4. • The novel causality in continuous wavelet transform and wavelet coherence are applied. • Climate policy uncertainty and coal efficiency decrease CO 2 emissions in all frequencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global energy landscape is experiencing substantial transformations, and the energy policies of various countries are also evolving under the influence of economic development and climate change mitigation. The Policies and Measures Database of the International Energy Agency assembles over 7000 pieces of information on energy policy from around the world and classifies them into four categories based on their objectives: addressing climate change policy, renewable energy policy, energy efficiency policy, and building energy efficiency policy. This paper aims to analyze the status quo of global energy policy development from these four aspects and examine the effectiveness of both aggregate and individual instruments utilizing an econometric model based on panel data analysis. Moreover, this paper analyzes the energy policy paths of six leading countries and compares the effectiveness of their policies. The results revealed that global climate policy plays a significant role in reducing carbon emission, while the performance of policies varies among different countries. Based on these findings, this paper provides reference for policymakers to formulate energy policies aligned with global and domestic requirements. [Display omitted] • Characterizing a full picture of global climate policy inventories. • Different policy instruments have varying performances in reducing carbon dioxide emissions. • The policy effectiveness varies across countries, better in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a basic tool for understanding and making informed decisions about global warming, climate literacy could potentially affect the whole process from individual awareness to public engagement with global climate change. We conducted a nationwide online survey (N = 3067) to assess climate literacy in China and investigate its role in climate change concern and climate policy support. Respondents in our sample were generally well informed about the cause and public engagement dimensions of climate literacy, while demonstrated polarized performance in regard to the consequences of climate change. Climate literacy is a stronger predictor of climate change concern and policy support than other variables such as demographics, experience, and values and can largely enhance the effects of media coverage through the mediation effect. Education and media coverage are found to be significantly associated with climate literacy, while climate experience has little to no effect on climate literacy. Our results somewhat undermine the central role of climate change concern in climate communications and public engagement. Instead, enhancing public climate literacy by disseminating scientific and result-based information from reliable institutions seems to be a more promising path in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combatting climate change has risen to the top of the international policy discourse. Effective governance necessitates the generation of concise information on the costs-effectiveness of policy instruments aimed at reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) approach is a framework commonly used to summarise information of potential mitigation effort, and can help in identifying the most cost-effective managerial and technological GHG mitigation options. Agriculture offers key opportunities to mitigate GHG emissions and utilise carbon (C) sink potentials. Therefore, a number of countries have developed national agricultural MACCs in the last decade. Whilst these MACCs have undoubtedly been catalysers for the information exchange between science and policy, they have also accentuated a range of constraints and limitations. In response, each of the scientific teams developed solutions in an attempt to address one or more of these limitations. These solutions represent ‘lessons learned’ which are invaluable for the development of future MACCs. To consolidate and harness this knowledge that has heretofore been dispersed across countries, this paper reviews the engineering agricultural MACCs developed in European countries. We collate the state-of-the-art, review the lessons learnt, and provide a more coherent framework for countries or research groups embarking on a trajectory to develop an agricultural MACC that assesses mitigations both within the farm gate and to the wider bioeconomy. We highlight the contemporary methodological developments, specifically on 1) the emergence of stratified MACCs; 2) accounting for soil carbon sequestration 3) accounting for upstream and downstream emissions; 4) the development of comprehensive cost-calculations; 5) accounting for environmental co-effects and 6) uncertainty analyses. We subsequently discuss how the mitigation potential summarised by MACCs can be incentivised in practice and how this mitigation can be captured in national inventories. We conclude that the main purpose of engineering MACCs is not necessarily the accurate prediction of the total abatement potential and associated costs, but rather the provision of a coherent forum for the complex discussions surrounding agricultural GHG mitigation, and to visualise opportunities and low-hanging fruit in a single graphic and manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By forming city-to-city (C2C) transnational networks, cities can take action collectively against climate change. Interaction and collaboration among cities offers policymakers a chance to learn how other cities are conducting climate mitigation and adaptation measures. However, activities of C2C climate networks vary. By analyzing C2C climate networks, this study aims to identify and categorize C2C networks for climate change action, and to link the functions with levels of activity. To understand C2C climate-action networks, we suggest a framework for mapping C2C: geographic bases (domestic, regional, and global C2C), linking modalities (multilateral, and institution-led C2C), and functions (information exchange, networking, lobbying and funding, research, standards and commitments provision, and monitoring and certification). Based on this framework, we analyze the contents of C2C websites to assess current activities. We find that not all C2C networks are currently active. Statistical analysis and case studies suggest that C2C climate networks with advanced functions—such as lobbying, research, climate plans, and monitoring—are likely to actively engage with member cities. However, C2C cooperation focusing mainly on networking or information sharing is less likely to survive. Policy implications suggest that well-designed and advanced C2C networks with research and monitoring functions rather than simple networking functions can enable member cities to actively engage in climate policy cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weighting of impacts is frequently applied to enable the prioritization of life cycle assessment (LCA) results for the support of decision making. Most Distance-to-Target (DtT) weighting approaches consider policy targets, whereas potential is seen in the weighting of environmental impacts on a more scientific basis. This study aims at the comparison of science-based (SB) to policy-based (PoB) DtT weighting approaches as well as the application in a comparative case study for the domestic footprint of the European Union. The developed approaches integrated SB targets from ten environmental impact categories into the DtT weighting method of the Ecological Scarcity Method in an effort to derive SB eco-factors. In addition to SB eco-factors based on existing weighting factors for Europe from the literature, weighting factors for the European Union were developed. The application of the eco-factors in the case study showed that the SB approach led to three times higher absolute weighting results in contrast to PoB results. SB weighting was dominated by the impact category climate change with the strictest weighting factors in all approaches considered and a share of 87–92%. For the remaining impact categories, common PoB weighting factors were generally stricter. PoB results showed a more balanced distribution, with shares of 64% for climate change, 10% for photochemical ozone formation, 7% for acidification, and 7% for terrestrial eutrophication. Science-based targets can not replace conventional PoB weighting approaches but should be integrated into the weighting step to provide a more comprehensive view of the environmental performance of product systems. SB weighting results are an additional source of information on environmental sustainability regarding environmental carrying capacity that can broaden the basis for decision making. • Comparison of targets based on science and policy via distance-to-target weighting. • Development of weighting sets for comparative application to EU domestic footprint. • Science-based results are dominated by the impact category climate change. • Lower results in policy-based weighting due to less strict climate policy targets. • Analysis of EU policy regarding effectiveness to stay within carrying capacities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finance has become a crucial agenda in climate change negotiations in recent years. Meanwhile, multilateral negotiations on climate change as a whole are making meager progress, and increasingly observed are activities by national governments and transnational non-state actors. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how investment towards low-carbon development could be materialized in Asia. A thorough review of current financial assistance for developing countries in Asia was conducted, and the amount of funding proved to be relatively modest to achieve the aim. We then examined financial policy instruments that could be implemented in the region. We estimated that USD125–149 billion per year would be needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the region by 2035. We also estimated that more than a half of this amount of funding could be achieved by public sector if several key policy instruments were agreed upon and enacted at regional and national levels in Asia. The role of private sector investment was also found to be indispensable in fulfilling all the long-term investment needs related to climate mitigation in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ambitious 2050 decarbonization strategy of the European Union (EU) must implement and reconcile several economic, social, and technological targets, such as continuous prosperity, growth, and increases in energy production and reductions in fossil fuel (FOS) intensity. These dimensions are included in a modified Kaya identity that, consequently, becomes a considerably useful accounting identity to analyze convergence among the EU member states toward a carbon neutrality target. Surprisingly, no comprehensive analysis of the convergence of the growth of all Kaya components toward the decarbonization target among the EU countries and the rest of the world has been conducted thus far. This study fills this gap in the literature by providing the first comprehensive evidence for the simultaneous convergence process of FOS reduction for all the Kaya components from 1990 to 2018. A balanced panel data is used in the study. The results reveal that there is evidence of σ -absolute and conditional β -convergence process for several groups of EU countries. Furthermore, to provide policy recommendations, we simulate alternative scenarios to assess when the target levels of decarbonization can be reached, providing relevant policy implications for the credibility of the 2050 EU policy regarding climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting with the 11th Five-Year Plan (FYP) and continuing in the 12th FYP, quantitative and binding targets have been set for energy-efficiency improvement in China. Drawing on international experience in burden-sharing on climate change, this paper presents a framework for provincial-level disaggregation of energy-saving targets in China. Based on principles of equity and efficiency, four scenarios have been established by weighting different choice preferences of responsibility, capacity, and potential. In addition, nonlinear and linear allocation models have been developed by considering or ignoring marginal energy-saving cost. When this framework was applied to the disaggregation of the national energy saving target of 16% during the 12th FYP, the results show that the final allocation schemes are largely determined by the policy maker's choice preferences. The extreme reduction target of 37.26% fell to Shanghai under responsibility preferring (RP) using the linear allocation method, while the capability preferring (CP) scenario considering marginal energy-saving cost is the closest to the actual scheme accepted by the 30 provinces. Development of such a framework may serve as a feasible policy instrument to help China achieve its conservation targets in a cost-effective way and in accordance with its regional development strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Great interest has been in unilateral climate policies, given present difficulty of establishing stable global coordinated agreements. In this paper, we investigate underlining factors explaining large differences in performances, when the same carbon emission reductions are achieved in different abating countries. To this end, we develop a new multi-country general equilibrium model, incorporating six countries (or world regions), two goods, six production inputs, capital mobility, energy mobility and international trade. Meanwhile, we adopt two performance indicators, with carbon leakage representing environmental efficiency and carbon emission abatement costs revealing cost-effectiveness. Our findings are as follows. Firstly, there are large differences in performances among these unilateral climate policies, as evidenced by large differences in leakage rates and carbon emission abatement costs. Secondly, the new global climate treaties to replace the Kyoto Protocol should be able to induce more carbon emission reductions in countries with low carbon emission reduction costs, since such setting contributes to global cost savings. Finally, developed countries have high carbon emission abatement costs compared with large developing countries (China and India in this paper), implying that there should be trade-off mechanisms between efficiency and equity regarding how to allocate carbon emission reductions among countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accompanying the boom in the global economy, CO 2 emissions have soared over the past several decades, with the developing world exhibiting higher emission growth rates than the developed world. Emissions transfers between regions, which represent a significant fraction of total emissions, are assumed to be a primary factor contributing to this difference. It is important to understand these transfer figures and the resulting consumption-based emissions in order to evaluate the emissions drivers and establish climate policies. Existing studies, however, have merely estimated figures over a 20 years span (post-1990) using a traditional input–output analysis (IOA) framework. To broaden the data coverage (to pre-1990) of these transfer figures and to further analyze their impacts on total emissions in the long term, a new model called the Long-term Consumption-based Accounting model (LCBA), which is directly based on statistics, is developed to span the period from 1948 to 2011. The results are consistent with the magnitudes and trends of existing studies over the validation (post-1990) period. We use Monte Carlo methods to calculate upper and lower bounds on the LCBA for each country and year, and find that 3 existing time series are almost fully included within these boundaries from 1990. Furthermore, the LCBA model is succinct enough to be easily expanded for future GHG estimations or to analyze other ecological footprints related to “the flow of materials”. It can be assumed that the soaring emissions transfers will seriously jeopardize the current climate policies such as Kyoto Protocol. The Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) under which all parties are legally bound will require a consumption-based accounting method together with the territorial one in order to achieve an equitable agreement. However, more researches are still needed to facilitate the use of these figures to better support decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of waste policies and measures from National Determined Contributions (NDCs) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is unexamined and creates conditions for policy conflict and incoherence. This participatory case study of North Macedonia quantifies synergies and trade-offs. Our results show twelve times more synergies than trade-offs. The most important synergies concern SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth (score: 10) and SDG 3: Good health and well-being (score: 5) since formalizing the recycling sector is expected to create jobs, economic productivity is expected to improve as a result of increased resource efficiency in industry, and declining pollution is expected to increase health through adequate waste management in landfills. On the other hand, the most important trade-off pertains to SDG 1: No poverty (score: −3) because the incomes of informal workers are expected to decrease, affecting financially vulnerable families. In conclusion, despite being the least emitting sector globally, the waste sector is a promising avenue for mitigating climate change because of its synergistic effects with the SDGs. Circular economy policies in line with the 3Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle hold the most potential for synergies in developing countries. This case study generated momentum for policy implementation by highlighting policy synergies and ideas for the next revision of the NDC. Central to this was the process of fostering dialogue and learning among otherwise siloed policy actors. • NDC Waste policies and measures have an impact on SDGs progress. • Participatory quantification approach reveals synergies and trade-offs. • A case study of North Macedonia shows an overwhelmingly positive impact on SDGs. • Reduce, reuse and recycling policies are most impactful for developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formally adopting climate change mitigation policies does not necessarily translate to tangible change on the ground. Here, we analyse 31 semi-structured interviews with climate policy government officials and consultants from 11 low-income and lower-middle income countries (LMICs) as well as the respective climate policy context, and find high average degrees of perceived discrepancies between formally adopted climate change mitigation policies and their actual implementation. Our results suggest that for our LMIC sample, both the global political process to limit climate change and domestic environmental threats have been key to drive the formal adoption of climate change mitigation policies, but have had limited effect on implementation. By contrast, momentum for implementation of climate change mitigation initiatives and projects on the ground emerges where climate policies are firmly embedded within economic and social development policies, the economy and society are comparably well-positioned to embrace the associated change, and where they have been governed by cross-ministerial institutions capable of implementing wider climate-compatible development pathways. Thus, to help translate climate policy into action, national LMIC governments and the international community need to find context-specific ways to successfully integrate climate with economic and social development policies, identify and build on feasible opportunities and competitive advantages through which the local economy can benefit from green growth, build adequate social capital, and actively create institutional spaces and processes for well-equipped and meaningful cross-ministerial co-benefit governance. The importance of unlocking co-benefits for implementing climate policies underlines both the urgency with which the international community needs to increase finance for LMICs for climate change mitigation, as well as the associated development opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inadequate governance is considered a major barrier for implementing policy, particularly those concerning global and complex challenges such as climate change adaptation. Literature in adaptation policy point to the lack of methods that monitor and assess how decision-making takes place and by whom. Based on a review of over 200 policy documents, this article benchmarks for the first time, the current airport climate adaptation regime in the United States and applies a sociotechnical system framework to scrutinize institutional capacity to address climate change impacts. An innovative policy review system is designed to decode how airport policies create conditions to use climate data as decision-relevant information and produce adaptation actions. Potential climate-cognizant policies are identified and characterized based on their target, timescale, and governance mode. Review results show that the assumption of climate stationarity is widespread. However, there is high potential for technical and, especially, organizational airport policies to incorporate climate science and adaptation pathways. Results also uncover governance barriers related to institutional path-dependence that include: (1) conflicting rationales between adaptation and reliability values, and (2) overpowering technical policies and market governance. These barriers perpetuate scale-mismatch between airport policies and expected impacts from climate change. Finally, we highlight the latent capacity for collaborative governance to advance adaptation regimes in airports and other multiscalar complex infrastructure systems. Our proposed methods and review results identify pathways to enhance institutional capacity for designing and operationalizing transformative adaptation policies. • Innovative sociotechnical approach benchmarks airport adaptation governance. • Potential climate-cognizant policies are identified and characterized. • Institutional path-dependence is depicted as a barrier to adaptation governance. • Market governance and technocentric policies aggravate temporal scale mismatch. • Collaborative governance is highlighted as a latent adaptation pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to ensure success for climate change mitigation policies? For the past decades, local climate action has been amongst the main global priorities. The Covenant of Mayors initiative is a major example of bottom-up climate initiative gathering municipalities of all sizes towards GHG reduction under a harmonised framework. Now, after the end of the first phase of the initiative in 2020, would be the time to assess the impact and effectiveness of the planed actions, based on the results of the monitoring exercise. However, the level and quality of monitoring reported by participating municipalities was not as expected and required an initial deep analysis. This study investigates the reasons behind this low number by comparing statistically the action plans of the 1643 CoM municipalities monitoring their emissions against the 3411 municipalities not doing it. The paper describes how, despite technical and financial barriers, key factors such as the direct involvement of local staff, stakeholders in participatory processes from an early stage, accurate budget allocation, or the development of the plan and deployment of actions as soon as possible, enabling municipalities to track and monitor their progress towards their climate target. • Assessing CoM impact is challenging due to the lack of monitoring/progress reports. • The lack of monitoring is explained by technical and financial barriers. • Direct engagement of local staff and stakeholders is key for successful monitoring. • Barriers and drivers found are a valuable guidance for global climate actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To successfully implement climate policy at different levels, local officials should have a better understanding of climate change issues. Using 191 valid questionnaires collected in 13 district cities in Jiangsu, China, this study found that local officials are aware of climate change and that they demonstrate a strong willingness to improve their understanding of climate science, management approaches, and climate policy. Further analysis reveals that officials working outside of the climate-related field showed stronger demands for enhancing their knowledge about climate change than those working in the field. The research suggests that the Jiangsu government would need to integrate capacity building into climate policy and take a systematic approach to equip local officials with newest scientific knowledge, policy developments, and necessary capacities for addressing climate change and pushing forward local low carbon development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As an essential household economic factor, household savings with increasing income affect household energy access. However, there is limited understanding of the household savings accumulation differs the impact of income on household energy and related CO 2. Based on the panel data of 284 cities in China, a threshold regression model is constructed to investigate the non-linear effects of income on urban household carbon emissions at different saving levels. We found that the heterogeneity of residential savings substantially mattered the income effect on urban household carbon emission. Especially, low-saving households struggled to obtain clean energy, needed more government intervention to replace the fossil fuel system with a clean household energy system. By comparison, middle- and high-saving households could easily transit towards a clean energy system, including natural gas and electricity. Moreover, residential income strongly drives the rising household electricity and related CO 2 at the upper-middle saving level. High-saving households showed high sensitivity to heating energy in northern China. In addition, an in-depth analysis of challenges faced by the energy consumption of Chinese urban households in coping with climate change is carried out, and policy recommendations in most undeveloped regions of China and other counties with high-carbon energy structures are put forward accordingly. • The heterogeneity of household income have an important impact on the carbon-neutral transition. • An increase in savings enables clean energy consumption of middle-saving residents. • High-savings households have high sensitivity to heating energy consumption. • Climate policy should incorporate the carbon spatial transfer and regional inequality of household electricity consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate policy is changing fast in the EU, with country leaders raising the bloc's ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and 2050. However, there is uncertainty about the allocation of decarbonisation effort between EU member states. This paper develops a multi-objective optimisation framework to provide insights to decision-makers in this policy context by exploring trade-offs between stronger decarbonisation goals and higher costs. Applying this approach for Cyprus, we find that the maximum achievable abatement for the EU Effort Sharing sectors corresponds to a 35% target. The current 24% ambition can be achieved with net social benefits, but the transition to higher abatement results in positive costs with a gradual rate of increase. The picture changes when decision-making explicitly accounts for external costs of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants in the optimisation procedure. In this case, the least-cost solution delivers an abatement of about 32% and can yield social benefits of more than one billion Euros'2020. Regarding public expenditures, it requires about 3% of national GDP each year. This indicates that the socially optimal policy mix for attaining decarbonisation of the Cypriot economy is feasible but requires a consistent allocation of public funds to build infrastructure, overcome investment barriers and mobilise capital to enable the uptake of clean technologies across the economy. Although the modelling framework has been developed for a specific country and is tailored to the specific EU policy circumstances, the proposed methodology is entirely suitable for other world regions with a demanding decarbonisation roadmap. • Optimisation framework to explore climate policy options under uncertain targets. • Abatement costs increase faster when the emissions target becomes more ambitious. • Decarbonisation yields economic benefits if air pollution costs are factored in. • Path to carbon neutrality is feasible but requires targeted allocation of funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are expected to contribute to climate mitigation by providing effective climate policy actions in a multilevel governance context. Yet, it is unclear what we actually know about the strengths and weaknesses of urban climate policy measures and how municipal policy learning could be enhanced. In this article we present a comprehensive review on cities' experience in climate mitigation policy and policy learning, focusing on research published in journal articles. We provide observations from the literature on municipal experience in policy practice and on how local governments manage learning in urban mitigation policy. The review provides valuable examples and reflections on individual policy initiatives, both in terms of policy framing and policy instruments, but finds sporadic evidence on systematically successful policy learning and capacity building processes in the scientific literature. The number of scientific articles on empirical assessments of local policy learning are few, and the research found, published in numerous journals, potentially addressing different research communities, provides limited knowledge on policy learning in terms of lessons learned, lessons drawing and capacity building. Moreover, the literature builds mostly on case studies within particular institutional contexts, which makes the transferability of findings problematic. While evidence on policy learning is still limited, there are indications that under the right conditions, cities can "learn to learn". • Cities apply climate mitigation policy instruments with variable success. • Limited scientific precedent is found for improving policy learning. • Literature on policy learning lacks a focus on context. • Evidence is emerging on institutional capacity building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The total factor carbon emission performance has been largely used to investigate the effectiveness of climate policies and to support the design of carbon reduction strategies. Despite the important information that this indicator is providing in relation to historical and cross-country trends, no previous studies have been specifically devoted to analyze the persistent and the transient components of the total factor carbon emission performance. By disaggregating the time-variant and the time-invariant elements of the carbon dioxide emission changes, this paper adopts, for the first time, a new methodological approach to decompose the components of the total factor carbon emission performance indicator. Using panel data for selected 30 Chinese provinces for the time-period 1997–2017, this paper combines the environmental production technology, the Shephard distance function, and the stochastic frontier models to measure and investigate the spatio-temporal evolution of the total factor carbon emission performance and to evaluate the effectiveness of Chinese policies. By providing a better understanding of the total factor carbon dioxide emission performance, the proposed methodology is suitable to be replicated across regions, and provides an important opportunity for international comparisons and for the design of coordinated carbon reduction strategies. ⁃ An innovative approach is presented to decompose the persistent and transient TFCP ⁃ TFCP of China is affected by persistent inefficiency with regional disparities ⁃ The economic determinants of persistent and transient TFCP are investigated ⁃ Industrialisation, FDI, technology progress are key determinants of persistent TFCP [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese government is increasingly concerned about the impacts of climate change mitigation policies on social equity. Carbon pricing is an effective measure for reducing carbon emissions, but its distributional effects may exacerbate inequity among different rural and urban households. As a leading carbon pricing pilot area in China, Guangdong Province is the subject area of this paper. By using the environmentally extended input-output model and calculating the Suits index, this study aims to compare the carbon price payments of ten income-level households in Guangdong Province in 2012 and 2017. The results indicate that higher-income households need to pay more for carbon emissions. Total carbon pricing in Guangdong is slightly progressive, and the progressivity increased from 2012 to 2017. Thus, the implementation of carbon pricing may not intensify the inequality between urban and rural areas and between different income groups. Only carbon pricing on residential energy consumption is regressive, which could be compensated by revenue recycling policies. The findings of this study contribute by offering a positive theoretical basis for China's future policies on carbon pricing such as carbon taxes. • Urban households and higher-income households would bear a greater burden of carbon payment in Guangdong. • Carbon pricing will not exacerbate the original income inequality of different households in Guangdong. • Households in urban areas have higher-carbon lifestyles than rural households. • From 2012 to 2017, the progressivity of carbon pricing increased slightly. • Carbon pricing for direct energy consumption is regressive, so revenue recycling schemes are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the targets of climate change policy, it is important not only to enhance concerns about climate change but also to promote climate-friendly behaviour. Encompassing European Union (EU) countries, the objective of this paper was to analyse how economic development and Hofstede's cultural dimensions contributed to climate change concerns, personal responsibility, and actions related to climate change mitigation. Furthermore, considering that actions related to climate change mitigation have different costs and benefits, in this study, we aimed to reveal whether climate change concerns and personal responsibility equally influenced all actions related to climate change mitigation and whether all types of actions were guided by the same goals. The results showed that the performance of actions related to climate change mitigation varied across European countries. The largest share of respondents declared that they reduce waste and regularly separate it for recycling. Meanwhile, a smaller share of people noted that they perform very high-cost actions such as the purchase of low-energy homes and electric cars. Economic development level significantly affects the assumption of personal responsibility and the number of actions related to climate change mitigation but not climate change concerns. Hofstede's cultural dimensions influence climate change concerns, responsibility, and the number of actions differently. Considering separate actions related to climate change mitigation, the assumption of personal responsibility significantly and positively influenced almost all actions. Climate change concerns positively and significantly affected only low-cost actions. Because of the different costs and guiding goals, the respondents who performed one action did not necessarily perform other actions related to climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon accounting is necessary for designing effective climate change mitigation policies. A proper and fair accounting method should motivate both the producers toward cleaner production methods and the consumers toward reducing the embodied emissions of their consumption. This research work proposes a new approach to map the production chain of carbon emissions in which every subsystem is responsible for the level and efficiency of its production activities and embodied emissions for providing its economic activities or final demands. The exergy cost formation concept is used to track the emissions in the production chain. The results of this accounting present the total carbon loads on economic outputs either consumed locally or exported abroad (CExA). The CExA results are then compared to the results of conventional production-based (PBA) and consumption-based (CBA) carbon inventories. Here we show that, in addition to the levels of production and consumption, the economic structures of the countries and the efficiency of the production activities are important factors differentiating the roles of the countries in the global emissions. Our results show that the share of the imported emissions to the total CExA varies between 14% for developing countries to 34% for the developed countries. Moreover, although the ratio of CBA to PBA for the countries is highly dependent on their economic states (0.87 for developing countries and 1.21 for developed countries), the ratio of CExA to PBA does not follow a unique trend among developing or developed countries. The results demonstrate that, according to the proposed sharing approach, the import-oriented developed countries, which have benefited the most from the carbon leakage effect, are mostly penalized for the embodied emissions associated with the imports to their economy, and vice versa. Image 1 • PBA and CBA carbon accounting methods do not cover essential fairness criteria. • Sharing carbon responsbilities among the producers and consumers is necessary. • CEA sharing approach is modified based on extended exergoenvironmental cost (CExA). • The method is applied to the global system of the countries. • Technical efficiency and economic structure are important factors in CExA accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macro and micro institutions have received considerable attention from institutional theory in the analysis of organizational performance. The role played by meso-institutions has hardly been addressed. This article draws on recent institutionalist approaches which introduce meso-institutions as a third layer of the analysis. Meso-institutions on the adoption of environmental technologies is the focus of attention. The Brazilian policy on climate change offered an opportunity for this investigation. Different meso-institutions were created or adjusted to accelerate and monitor the actions and targets of the Brazilian Low Carbon Agriculture Plan. The effects of these meso-institutions on both farmers' decision to adopt Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems (ICLS) and farms performance were estimated through a Simultaneous Equation System (SES). The analyses were based on a survey sample of 175 farmers from the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Our main results corroborate the hypothesis that meso-institutions are of utmost importance to improve resource utilization by the farmers. Economic incentives, risk reduction, capacity building and knowledge sharing provided by meso-institutions had significant impacts on the probability of adopting ICLS and on farms performance. These results suggest that meso-institutions can foster a favorable environment for the adoption of more sustainable technologies at farm-level. The paper innovates in the use of SES to investigate the impacts of meso-institutions on resource allocation decisions of Brazilian cattle farmers. Our empirical findings can contribute to the research agenda on meso-institutions and sustainable technology adoption. • We analyzed the effect of meso-institutions on ICLS adoption and farm performance. • Incentives, risk reduction and knowledge sharing are provided by meso-institutions. • Meso-institutions positively affected adoption decisions and farm performance. • Meso-institutions are important to improve resource utilization at farm level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has been a challenge for the planners, who aim to make sustainable policies regarding staple food security and economic sustainability of smallholder farmers. There is a dire need for a conformed policy framework that quantizes monetary losses caused by the climate change on crops and suggests response policies under realistic climatic projections. The present study develops a climate change response policy framework for Ganges river basin by projecting climatic scenarios (temperature, rainfall, potential evapotranspiration) under intergovernmental panel on climate change representative concentration pathway (RCP) 2.6 for carbon dioxide emission. The study uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) based spatiotemporal-trend approach and evaluates economic loss using Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) crop simulation for the Ganges river basin. The policies have been derived by using fuzzy entropy decision making method. The novelty of the study is that it evaluates impact of climate change on crop yield under multiple scenarios expectations i.e. optimistic, neutral, and pessimistic. A case study of Ganges basin, India is taken and various indices (CSI- Climate Sustainability Index and CRS- Climate Risk Security) has been introduced that can be used by the planners to implement sustainable climatic response policies. Results show that winter crops (Rabi season) in the Ganges river basin are most vulnerable to future climate change risks as the basin is expected to be heated more in winter season as compared to summer. The expected reduction in seasonal rainfall is likely to nullify any carbon fertilization benefits on winter crop yields. Crop field in south-west Ganges basin (i.e. Chambal, Betwa, Ken and Son catchments) came out to be the most vulnerable. Based on the results, sustainable crop insurance policy has been suggested. Image 1 • Climatic trend study of Ganges basin shows that winter crops are most vulnerable to the climate change. • Projected climatic scenarios shows the most critical regions are Chambal, Betwa, Ken and Son catchments. • Farmers in critical regions requires at-least $5246.52/hectare of Climatic Risk Security (CRS) before year 2021. • Temperature rise till 2 °C is expected to have both location based positive and negative effect on crop yields. • Suggested policies: Insurance against failed winter crops, subsidizing high yield seeds to the vulnerable farmers etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyze the relationship between social inequality and climate change policy actions in African countries. We examine whether the needs of the poor influence mitigation and adaptation policies in the region. The continent is characterized by an interesting dynamic between inequality and climate change: it is predicted to disproportionately bear the effects of climate change, at the same time that it accounts for four out of the top five countries with the starkest inequality globally. In our analysis, we construct a statistical measure of social inequality for a group of 54 African countries and use the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to obtain corresponding data on mitigation and adaptation policy actions. We then estimate the intensity of the responsiveness of the latter to the former. Using fractional regression and data imputation methods, we find a statistically significant negative relationship between social inequality and climate change policy actions in Africa. Across African countries, mitigation and adaptation actions fall by about 23% for every 1% rise in social inequality. African countries are therefore not responding to climate change threats in ways that simultaneously reduce social inequality and adapt to climate change. Furthermore, there is some evidence that countries emitting more pollutants are less likely to take action to address climate change. Our results imply that in order to address differences in the burden of climate change in Africa, a re-evaluation of current policy actions is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To our knowledge, the previous studies did not answer the following questions: how much does window analysis differ from the original Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approaches and how to develop DEA window analysis? To address these questions, we propose three intermediate approaches (cross-sectional approach, window efficiency analysis and window index approach) and statistically compare their performances. The underlying concern is that we need to examine whether a metrological bias exists in our study. The concern is important in guiding policy issues such as energy policy and climate change. Empirically, the proposed approaches are applied to measure the unified efficiency of fossil fuel power plants at a provincial level in China from 2007 to 2017, since these plants are important energy consumers and CO 2 emitters. We obtain two important implications. First, considerable differences were confirmed among the three approaches, thus implying an existence of the methodological bias. Second, Beijing (the capital of China) outperformed the other provinces in terms of their measures, since the government has paid serious attention to air pollution emitted from fossil fuel power plants. The governmental regulation in Beijing is a good example of pollution prevention in China. It is expected that the success on Beijing will be disseminated to the other provinces. This paper proposed three approach, i.e. one conventional approach (cross-sectional approach) and two new approaches (window efficiency analysis and window index approach). The two new approaches were capable of measuring efficiency shifts or technology shifts over time. Empirically, these approaches were adopted to evaluate the performance of Chinese fossil fuel power plants. Image 1 • We evaluate the performance of China's fossil fuel power plants from 2007 to 2017. • Three formulations are utilized for DEA intermediate approach. • The first policy effort was put on Beijing and gradually on other provinces. • China made a progress on economic and environmental measures during this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tackling climate change has been a global challenge and business corporations are responding to this challenge actively as it directly affects business bottom lines. The 'win-win' resolution has been advocated and supported by many prior studies. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence examining how the relationship between corporate environmental performance and financial returns might change if government climate policy changes. This study uses evidence from Australia to explore this question. Australia experienced incredible carbon policy changes within a short time frame during 2009 and 2014 – (1) the ETS move, (2) the carbon tax, and (3) the repeal of the carbon tax, all of which have had profound impacts on the capital market and business behaviour. This study examines the association between carbon performance of listed firms and their market returns during each stage of carbon legislative changes in Australia. It finds that better carbon performance has led to significantly greater market returns during the repeal of the carbon tax, but this positive relationship is not found during the ETS and carbon tax changes despite stronger market reactions to these two stages of policy changes. It also reveals that high emitters in environmentally sensitive industries have suffered the most during the repeal of the carbon tax. The findings imply that lengthy processes of climate policy debate and legislative changes limit the value-enhancing capability of carbon performance. Along with years of policy uncertainty and political instability, the market has become weaker in response to policy changes, but stronger in response to the public call to reward better carbon performers. • This study evidences the impact of climate policy changes on the relationship between carbon performance and financial returns. • The evidence focuses on Australia which experienced incredible carbon policy changes within a short time frame. • It reveals that better carbon performance has led to significantly greater market returns during the repeal of the carbon tax. • The positive relationship is not found in the ETS move or carbon tax changes. • The lengthy process of climate policy and legislative changes limits the value-enhancing capability of carbon performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]