National climate change governance

This topic guide looks at climate change governance and the political economy of climate policy development and implementation at the national scale. It aims to help donor agency staff better support country partners in implementing adaptive, equitable, effective and coherent policy.

The report highlights national-level challenges. Intended for both climate change and governance advisors, it identifies potential entry points to address procedural, policy, institutional, political, economic and social-behavioural challenges.

In conclusion, the degree to which climate policies are implemented and receive sustained public and political support depends on a range of factors. Critically, national institutions will need to coordinate, share information, enable learning and be adaptive to new feedback on climate impacts and social, economic, and ecological system responses. 

Political economy approaches can assess ways to frame proposed policies to catalyse new coalitions or address vested interests. Creative climate policy design can help by providing innovative ‘commitment devices’ that can promote decision-making for the long term, enabling future flexibility in implementation while still providing protection from quick shifts in political support.