Abstract
About 78% of global greenhouse gas emissions between 1970 and 2010 were due to fossil fuel combustion, increasing the atmospheric mixing ratio of carbon dioxide to around 419 ppm by June 2021. During a similar period, between 1975 and 2017, 162 countries adopted renewable energy targets – official national commitments to increase the share of renewable energies. What induced the diffusion of these renewable energy targets? What are the patterns of their diffusion? We analyze data from 187 countries and assess four possible mechanisms of policy diffusion of renewable energy targets: learning, economic competition, emulation, and coercion. Using a qualitative comparative analysis, we find eight pathways to renewable energy target adoption. In the most common pathways, economic competition, emulation, and coercion played a significant role. Before there is a critical mass of countries to emulate, our analysis shows that early adopters followed the mechanisms of economic competition and coercion. Ultimately, we find that there is no one recipe for the diffusion of renewable energy targets, and we identify the specific countries associated with the different diffusion pathways.
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