A Critical Decade for Climate Policy

This working paper, based on a October 2012 workshop convened by the World Resources Institute and the ClimateWorks Foundation, assesses the landscape of independent efforts to track the adoption, implementation, and impact of global climate change policies. It identifies critical gaps in current tracking efforts and provides recommendations for researchers, funders, and governments to improve the monitoring of climate policy effectiveness.

• The current landscape of climate policy tracking is characterized by a diverse set of methodologies, yet information remains inconsistent and incomplete. Specifically, there is a lack of coordinated monitoring regarding policies currently under development and the actual implementation of policies, as opposed to their mere adoption. Furthermore, geographical coverage is uneven and projections and quantifications often lack consistency.
• While technical abatement potential is used as a benchmark, it is insufficient on its own because it does not account for political and policy contexts. Additionally, most tracking efforts are led by international organizations for international audiences, though some country-level examples exist.
• Climate policy tracking tools are intended to complement the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) processes. These tools aim to hold governments accountable to their goals, identify barriers to progress, and facilitate necessary course corrections to achieve gigatonne-scale greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions.
• To be effective, climate policy tracking must combine quantitative and qualitative data to account for the non-linear nature of policy implementation. It should integrate continuous monitoring of progress with evaluations of policy effectiveness and appraisals of expected outcomes.
• The paper provides four primary recommendations: increasing the monitoring of policies under development and their implementation; strengthening tracking at the national level through partnerships; improving collaboration and coordination among practitioners regarding methodologies and communication; and further exploring emerging issues such as sector-specific tracking and the intersection with UNFCCC biennial reports.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). A Critical Decade for Climate Policy. https://www.wri.org/research/critical-decade-climate-policy

Chicago

World Resources Institute. A Critical Decade for Climate Policy. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/critical-decade-climate-policy.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=A Critical Decade for Climate Policy |url=https://www.wri.org/research/critical-decade-climate-policy |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendcritical, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{A Critical Decade for Climate Policy}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/critical-decade-climate-policy}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }