Pathways to credible net zero governance: translation of political commitments into domestic laws

While an increasing number of countries commit to net zero targets, numerous reports point to insufficient progress being made towards their implementation. This reaffirms the importance of strong national climate governance systems that can support credible implementation of commitments. However, few studies have systematically assessed the factors leading to the decision to integrate the net zero target into law (or the lack thereof) and the ways in which such integration takes place. This paper contributes to filling this gap through an analysis of pathways for integration of net zero commitments into national climate governance. Drawing on the Climate Change Laws of the World database and the Net Zero Tracker, we identify 27 countries that have integrated net zero targets into national legislation and map the underlying elements of national climate governance infrastructure that support the implementation of net zero targets. We assess integration of such commitments across nine governance functions: narrative and direction-setting, strategy articulation and risk assessment, independent expert advice, horizontal integration and mainstreaming, vertical integration and mainstreaming, coordination, stakeholder engagement, finance mobilisation and channelling, and oversight, accountability, and enforcement. Based on our mapping and literature review, we develop an analytical framework for the analysis of political and legal pathways to integration of net zero commitments into national governance and propose an initial typology for the pathways. Based on a combination of desk reviews and semi-structured interviews with climate policy practitioners, the analytical framework is then tested through two country case studies that explore the ways in which net zero commitments have emerged, been supported, and followed through the national climate governance frameworks. We investigate the role of contextual factors and political strategies in whether and how a country adopts and governs implementation of net zero targets. This paper contributes to the debate on credibility of implementation of net zero commitments and proposes a framework that allows for replicable and comparable application across a larger set of countries and socio-economic and political contexts.