Analyzing Climate Policy Portfolios

Abstract

This paper introduces the concept of policy portfolios as a new analytical tool for examining climate policies. Climate policy portfolios systematically categorize government actions along two key dimensions: (i) the target dimension, which identifies the specific goals being addressed, and (ii) the instrument dimension, which outlines the policy instruments employed to achieve these goals. The advantages of utilizing climate policy portfolios are manifold. Primarily, these portfolios provide a clear and illustrative framework for visualizing governments’ climate policy actions. Additionally, the structured categorization across these two dimensions enhances the analysis of the size, growth, diversity, and similarities within countries’ climate policy portfolios. To illustrate the effectiveness of the climate policy portfolio approach, the article leverages the OECD CAPMF dataset to map the evolution of portfolio development across 49 countries.