The impact of strategic climate legislation: evidence from expert interviews on the UK Climate Change Act

Abstract

This paper assesses the importance of a strategic legal framework for action against climate change, using the UK Climate Change Act as an example. Passed in 2008, the Climate Change Act is one of the earliest and most prominent examples of framework legislation on climate change. It contains several innovative features that have since been replicated in other framework laws. We use stakeholder interviews to assess the strengths of the Act and whether it has succeeded in creating an integrated, informed and forward-looking policy process. Respondents felt that the Act had established a firm long-term framework with a clear direction of travel. However, they differed on whether the Act provided sufficient policy certainty and protection against political backsliding. Most respondents felt that the Act had changed the institutional context and the processes through which climate change is addressed. As a result, interviewees believe that the Act has helped UK climate policy to become better informed, more forward looking and better guided by statutory routines. Key policy insights. A strong legal framework with statutory targets, processes and institutions can be an important tool for effective climate change governance.. A broad-based framework law can make action on climate change more predictable, more structured and more evidence-based.. The UK Climate Change Act is a model for such framework legislation, with important institutional features that have already been emulated in other framework laws.. The main such features are statutory short-term and long-term emissions targets, a new independent advisory body (the Committee on Climate Change), clear accountability and an iterative approach to adaptation planning.

A hybrid approach to identifying and assessing interactions between climate action (SDG13) policies and a range of SDGs in a UK context

“…The UK is a suitable political context in which to test this relationship because it provides a case in which there is increasing urgency to respond to the SDGs in the context of a declared climate emergency. As well as being the first country to declare such an emergency, the UK is a leader on SDG 13 policies, establishing the Climate Change Act in 2008 [ 1 ], which was amended in 2019 to mandate net-zero emissions by 2050 [ 2 ]. The UK policy approach therefore provides fertile ground for the identification and evaluation of the extent to which SDG 13 interacts with other SDGs and how far these interactions can inform policy-making across the UK’s administrations.…”

Idealism, pragmatism, and the power of compromise in the negotiation of New Zealand’s Zero Carbon Act

“…This remains an open question. The policy consensus that enabled the UK CCA, for example, was tested during debates over setting of the fourth carbon budget, which was only confirmed after a review, but has remained generally secure (Averchenkova et al, 2020;Gillard, 2016;Lockwood, 2013. One reading is that the New Zealand ZCA has been made more vulnerable by the strength of its links to more contentious policies like the NZ ETS.…”

Sweden’s Climate Act – its origin and emergence

“…Climate Change Act as such. However, even if the Swedish CCA is less comprehensive than the U.K. version, it contains most of its key features (Averchenkova et al, 2020), with the exception of the climate objectives. Concerning the international influences, the Committee was strongly affected by the COP 21 process, both in general and on specific aspects of climate policy, e.g.…”