Faster Or Slower Decarbonization: The Impact Of The COVID-19 Crisis On Climate Policy

The COVID-19 pandemic and its economic implications will potentially have remarkable consequences on decarbonization efforts across the globe. Understanding the responses of governments in the short- and medium-term is key to assess whether the crisis will crowd-out decarbonization efforts or crowd them in, leading to a green recovery. In order to shed light on the likely impact of the COVID-19 crisis on decarbonization efforts in different countries, we developed an expert elicitation survey that we administered to key policymakers in a wide set of countries, focusing on highest emitters. We use data from the survey to assess the potential impact of the crisis on a series of climate policies in the energy, transport, land and industry sector. We also assess which country-level predictors contribute to explaining heterogeneities in the impacts of the crisis on climate policies.