The march of climate policy

Mat Hope

doi:10.1016/s2542-5196(19)30115-9

Abstract

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The march of climate policy

Highlights

With governments across the world declaring “climate emergencies”, climate policies have shot up the political agenda in many nations
Addressing the climate crisis requires governments to implement big, bold, policies to enact fundamental and rapid changes in national carbon usage but attempts so far have proved largely unpopular. This is perhaps best illustrated in France, where the “gilets jaunes”, or “yellow vests”, took to the streets to protest what they saw as the unjust increase in a fuel tax in the name of addressing climate change
In France, the gilets jaunes made this point felt in the strongest terms, with hundreds of thousands of citizens taking to the streets over the course of the last 7 months to protest

Summary

Introduction

With governments across the world declaring “climate emergencies”, climate policies have shot up the political agenda in many nations. Are the gilets jaunes protests in France an inevitable response to ambitious climate policy? Addressing the climate crisis requires governments to implement big, bold, policies to enact fundamental and rapid changes in national carbon usage but attempts so far have proved largely unpopular. Why implement policies that damage the wealth and health of the nation’s poorest, they argue, when there are more polluting targets to go after?

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