Policy Surveillance in the G-20 Fossil Fuel Subsidies Agreement: Lessons for Climate Policy

Achievement of Paris climate goals unlikely due to time lags in the land system

“…The various dependencies (and acknowledged insufficiencies) of the actions planned in support of the Paris Agreement mean that achievement of the 1.5⁰C (or even a 2 o C) goal is highly unlikely 10,69 . Given the urgent need for climate change mitigation, there are strong arguments to be made for international climate policy to rely on binding or regulatory commitments that either take a leading role in economic policies or supersede them entirely 24,45,70,71 . Trading arrangements that actively promote mitigation or formal 'peerreview' of proposed policies have both been suggested as proven options 70,71 .…”

“…Given the urgent need for climate change mitigation, there are strong arguments to be made for international climate policy to rely on binding or regulatory commitments that either take a leading role in economic policies or supersede them entirely 24,45,70,71 . Trading arrangements that actively promote mitigation or formal 'peerreview' of proposed policies have both been suggested as proven options 70,71 . However, these approaches cannot in themselves ensure rapid on-the-ground change, especially given the risks of democratic backlash and limited responsiveness to both scientific and political developments 30 .…”

Fossil Fuel Subsidies and the Global Climate Regime

“…Yet the influence exerted through this first pathway is likely to depend on a second way in which an international institution can drive national politics and policies: by providing information. The G20 and APEC have followed their commitments up with peer reviews of the fossil fuel subsidies handed out by several countries (Aldy 2017). 4 But the UNFCCC, like most other multilateral environmental agreements, also incorporates a reporting and review process that aims to increase the transparency of countries' performance (Gupta and .…”

Alternative Metrics for Comparing Domestic Climate Change Mitigation Efforts and the Emerging International Climate Policy Architecture

“…There are several models for such official policy surveillance (see Aldy 2013 and Aldy 2014 for details states. In contrast, the G-20 tasked international organizations (the World Bank, OECD, International Energy Agency, and OPEC) with identifying fossil fuel subsidies and evaluating the performance of G-20 nations in reducing their fossil fuel subsidies pursuant to the 2009 Pittsburgh G-20 Leaders' Agreement (Aldy 2015). Under the UNFCCC, ad hoc groups of experts evaluate the emission inventories submitted by developed countries as well as these countries' national communications.…”