How national legislation can help to solve climate change

Do international factors influence the passage of climate change legislation?

“…The hypothesis is supported by anecdotal evidence. Officials from host countries often emphasise how hosting the COP changed political dynamics and facilitated the passage of legislation (Townshend et al, 2013;Nachmany et al, 2014).…”

“…We find that assuming a global leadership role, by hosting an international summit, can unblock domestic obstacles and lead to more climate legislation We derive these results from a powerful new dataset, which we helped assemble over a series of climate legislation surveys (Townshend et al, 2013;Townshend et al, 2011).…”

Entry into force and then? The Paris agreement and state accountability

“…How this pathway functions depends on the traditions and administrative cultures of each state, and the legal and policy options they adopt (Townshend et al, 2013). Internal accountability is fundamental on its own even if governments are not making the data they use publicly available.…”

Innovations in climate policy: conclusions and new directions

“…6. Although extremely useful, Townshend et al (2013) do not help because they mainly count policy adoptions in a largely undifferentiated fashion. 7.…”

“…We are much more interested in the empirical question of whether the nation state has been and in future is likely to be a productive site of policy innovation, and if so why. Many national policies predate the UNFCCC and are an important and longstanding feature of both the old and the new climate governance (Dubash et al 2013, Townshend et al 2013. To our minds, a more direct focus on the nation state adds a number of important aspects to political and academic debates concerning the future governance of climate change.…”