SIGNATURE WORK
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2022

The amount of CO2 produced since industrializing has grown large enough to alter the atmosphere and worsening climatic effects have already begun. To address further ecological collapse, the nations of the world must drastically reduce emissions. This study aims to identify characteristics of nations that are associated with effective climate policy. To do so, we analyzed the correlation between effective policy and the qualities of nations’ governments that inform climate policy strategy. Eight nations were selected and defined based on political stances, centralization, and leadership structure, with each nation having unique trait combinations. These characteristics were analyzed alongside CO2 emissions data and national initiatives to see which associated with decreasing emissions trends. From our data, the biggest result appears that politically right-aligned nations performed worst at mitigating already-high emissions, but most of our politically left-aligned nations were economically undeveloped and mostly increased low-level emissions. Additionally, centralization and authoritarianism were associated with stabler emissions trends, but did not appear to affect emission trend trajectory. While our data matches existing correlations between rightist politics and climate policy obstruction, our sample size is too small to correct for economic underdevelopment in politically left nations, despite seeing more beneficial climate policy on the left.