The track record of government climate policies is worse than you think

Research: More policies don't necessarily equate to better outcomes. The right mix of measures is crucial.

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Sometimes you can’t see the forest for the fog.

(Mark Hulbert, an author and longtime investment columnist, is the founder of the Hulbert Financial Digest; his Hulbert Ratings audits investment newsletter returns.)

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Callaway Climate Insights) — Climate activists like to criticize private industry’s pitiful track record in reducing their carbon footprint by insisting that government involvement is the key to making significant progress.

New research out of Oxford University puts that argument in an unfavorable light, finding that governments also have a terrible track record. After analyzing 1,500 climate policies instituted between 1998 and 2020 in 41 countries across six continents, the research’s authors found that just 63 of them — 4% — could be considered successes. They graded the other 96% as failures.