There is substantial variation in climate policymaking across countries. Research has offered several explanations for this. They can be classified into: institutions and governance, economic structure, public support and ideology, inequality, and interest group mobilization. Through the lens of distributive politics, these factors become interconnected. From this perspective, climate policymaking could be understood as a result of ongoing competition among organized interests, broadly divided into those who stand to benefit economically or politically from climate action and those who anticipate losses. Economic structure defines sides in the conflict, public support and ideology influence the legitimacy of competing claims, while institutions and governance shape which interests gain access to decision-making.
Mišić, M. Industrial interests in comparative climate politics: where green businesses matter. npj Clim. Action 4, 87 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-025-00295-6