Topic Climate Policy

Leibniz-Lab "Systemic Sustainability"

The rapid loss of biodiversity and ongoing climate change are also the result of intensive agriculture. At the same time, they jeopardize agriculture and food security. The Leibniz Lab "Systemic Sustainability" brings together relevant knowledge in science and society on this fundamental challenge in order to promote the development and implementation of systemic solutions. The current socio...

Firm Heterogeneity and Carbon Leakage in the Production Network

Energy transformation in France: too much dependence on nuclear power

Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Germany: A Complexity Approach

The interplay of technology and knowledge constitutes the backbone of entrepreneurial ecosystems, crucial for fostering innovation. This study applies the economic complexity approach as a tool for quantitatively evaluating these ecosystems in German labor market regions. Our contribution to the literature involves linking comprehensive micro-datasets encompassing economic sectors and patent data...

Heat Monitor 2023: Despite Continued Price Increases, Lower Decline in Households’ Heating Energy Consumption

In 2023, heating energy prices increased by substantial 31 percent compared to the previous year, following a 33 percent increase already seen in 2022. Calculations based on data from the energy service provider ista show average price increases were the highest in the German state of Rhineland- Palatinate, and the lowest in Hamburg. Owing to these price hikes and ongoing energy-saving efforts, the ...

Sufficiency as a “Strategy of the Enough”: Curbing Ecological Crises and Injustices: A Summary of the German Advisory Council on the Environment’s Discussion Paper

A recent discussion paper Sufficiency as a “Strategy of the Enough”: A Necessary Debate by the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU) aims to intensify the debate on sufficiency, a central but neglected element of future-oriented policy. It defines sufficiency as the need to limit the consumption and production of ecologically critical goods and services, mainly by the economically rich, ...

Moral Bandwidth and Environmental Concerns During a Public Health Crisis: Evidence from Germany

Did the COVID-19 pandemic crowd out environmental concerns, as one might expect if ‘‘pools of worry’’ were finite or ‘‘moral bandwidth’’ was limited? We use Chancellor Angela Merkel’saddress to the German nation on 18 March 2020 as the threshold in a regression discontinuity in time (RDiT) to evaluate the effects of an increase in COVID-based economic and health concerns on the climate and environmental ...

Carbon Pricing: Swift Introduction of a Climate Dividend Needed, Reduce at Higher Incomes

With the transition from the German national emissions trading system to the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS2) from 2027, final consumer prices for fossil motor and heating fuels are likely to rise significantly. This increase will affect low-income households more noticeably, as they spend a larger share of their income on energy than high-income households. Existing relief measures, such ...

Can the Financial Sector Protect the Climate? The Potential of Sustainable Finance

Climate policy aims to reduce emissions by redirecting investment from emission-intensive toward carbon-neutral assets. One key instrument, carbon pricing, guides investors and asset managers by lowering the return of fossil fuel-related assets. This chapter reviews three key mechanisms on how sustainable finance can support climate policy: first, providing investors with the necessary information ...

Paying Income Tax after a Natural Disaster

We investigate the effects of a climatic shock on individuals’ tax deduction and tax payable patterns, alongside their income dynamics. Using individual-level annual tax return data and exploiting the 2010–2011 Queensland Floods in Australia as a natural experiment, we find that the floods affect different income groups differently. They also lead to persistent higher tax deductions for high-income ...