Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/Chapter-13 (section)

== 13.1 Introduction ==

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This chapter assesses national and sub-national policies and institutions. Given the scale and scope of the climate challenge, an immediate challenge for this assessment is defining its scope. Because a very wide range of institutions and policies at multiple scales carry implications for climate change, the approach followed here is to embrace a broad approach. Consequently, institutions and policies discussed include dedicated climate laws and organisations ( [[#13.2|Section 13.2]] ) and direct mitigation policies such as carbon taxes ( [[#13.6|Section 13.6]] ), but also those, such as sectoral ministries and their policies (Sections 13.6 and 13.7) and sub-national entities such as regional bodies, cities, and their policies ( [[#13.5|Section 13.5]] ), the implications of which are salient to mitigation outcomes. This approach recognises that there are important linkages with international climate governance (Chapter 14), notably the role of internationally mandated Nationally Determined Contributions’ in stimulating domestic policy development ( [[#13.2|Section 13.2]] ), transnational networks in spurring sub-national action ( [[#13.5|Section 13.5]] ), and international effects of domestic policies ( [[#13.6|Section 13.6]] ).

This encompassing approach to climate governance is also built on a recognition that climate policymaking is routinely formulated in the context of multiple policy objectives such as energy security, energy access, urban development, and mitigation-adaptation linkages. This informs policymaking based on an understanding that to fully maximise direct and indirect climate mitigation potential, maximising co-benefits and minimising trade-offs should be explicitly sought rather than accidentally discovered and policies designed accordingly. This understanding also informs the design of institutions ( [[#13.2|Section 13.2]] ) and policies (Sections 13.6 and 13.7) as well as the linkage between mitigation and adaptation ( [[#13.8|Section 13.8]] ).

The chapter also engages with several new developments and an expansion of the literature since AR5.

A growing literature assesses how national policymaking on climate mitigation is dependent on national politics around, and building consensus on, climate action. This, in turn, is shaped by both nationally specific structural features ( [[#13.3|Section 13.3]] ) and the role of different actors in the policymaking process ( [[#13.4|Section 13.4]] ). Important new avenues through which climate policy making is shaped, such as climate litigation ( [[#13.4.2|Section 13.4.2]] ), and channels for public opinion formation, such as the media ( [[#13.4.3|Section 13.4.3]] ) are also assessed. The chapter weaves discussions of the role of justice, understood through a discussion of procedural justice ( [[#13.2|Section 13.2]] ), distributional justice ( [[#13.6|Section 13.6]] ) and vulnerability ( [[#13.8|Section 13.8]] ), and its role in creating public support for climate action ( [[#13.9|Section 13.9]] ).

A significant new theme is the focus on the dynamic elements of policy making, that is, how policy can be designed to accelerate mitigation. This includes through technological transitions, socio-technical transitions, shifts in development pathways and economy-wide measures. This literature emphasises the importance of examining not just individual policies, but packages of policies ( [[#13.7|Section 13.7]] ) and how these are enabled by the alignment of policy, institutions, finance, behaviour and innovation ( [[#13.9|Section 13.9]] ). Also new is attention to the opportunities for economy-wide system change presented by consideration of post-COVID recovery packages, and wider efforts at sustainable economic restructuring ( [[#13.9|Section 13.9]] ). Consistent with the discussion in Chapter 4, these larger approaches offer opportunities to undertake systemic restructuring and shift development pathways.

Finally, the chapter addresses core themes from earlier assessment reports, but seeks to do so in an enhanced manner. The discussion of climate institutions assesses a growing literature on climate law, as well as both purpose-built climate organisations and the layering of climate responsibilities on existing organisations at national and sub-national scales ( [[#13.2|Section 13.2]] ). The discussion of policies focuses on an ''ex post'' assessment of policies, as well as the interaction among them, and learnings on how they can be combined in packages (Sections 13.6 and 13.7). It also lays out a framework for their assessment that encompasses environmental effectiveness, economic effectiveness, distributional outcomes, co-benefits, institutional requirements, as well as a new criterion of transformational potential ( [[#13.6|Section 13.6]] ).

The aim of this chapter is to assess the full range of the multi-stranded and diverse literature on climate institutions and policy, reflecting the richness of real-world climate governance.

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