Silver Lining to Extreme Weather Events? Democracy and Climate Change Mitigation

Long-standing meteorological research has established that anthropogenic climate change increases the risk and intensity of extreme weather events, such as tropical cyclones, floods, and forest fires. However, comparatively little is known about the impact of such events on policy ambition. Studies on the topic emerged only recently and tend to focus on individual country cases. A comprehensive cross-country perspective is still missing. This article addresses the gap in the literature using large-scale analyses on the basis of country-level data from 2008 to 2017. The findings indicate that extreme weather events propel only highly functioning democracies to tackle climate change. Effects among remaining country cases are insignificant. This variation in the data can be attributed to democracies' concern for the common good and the perspectives of those most affected by climate-related disasters.

Automated summary

The study indicates that extreme weather events only have an impact on highly functioning democracies, driving them to increase efforts in addressing climate change. The effects among remaining country cases are considered insignificant. This variation in data can be attributed to democracies' concern for the common good and the perspectives of those most affected by climate-related disasters.