Institutions for effective climate policymaking: Lessons from the case of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom (UK) is home to one of the most ambitious climate policy regimes in the world, centred around the 2008 Climate Change Act (CCA), the first strategic climate legislation of its kind. Building on prior studies of the CCA while highlighting Germany as a counterfactual case study, we demonstrate the significant positive role that strategic framework legislation can play in improving climate policy integration and coherence. We further show that important new institutions can be established under the right historical conditions. Specifically, we argue that the political weakening of the UK coal sector was a necessary precursor to the adoption of strong climate policy and the emergence of a structural consensus towards accelerating climate ambition, as compared with Germany where consolidation of the coal regime has been a major factor in the country's failure to meet its emissions targets. We show how business associations and labour groups in the UK were a key supportive coalition for early climate action, while in Germany industry and organized labour have been key actors obstructing and delaying the passage of pro-climate reforms. Our study raises questions about the prospects for energy transitions that are both just and rapid, particularly by discussing the trade-offs between costeffectiveness, speed, and distributional concerns.

Automated summary

The UK's ambitious climate policy regime, supported by the 2008 Climate Change Act, has shown the positive role of strategic framework legislation in improving climate policy integration. The weakening of the coal sector has played a significant role in the UK's success, while Germany's failure to meet emissions targets can be attributed to the consolidation of the coal regime. The study also highlights the trade-offs between cost-effectiveness, speed, and distributional concerns in energy transitions.