Thirteenth International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts & Responses

Abstract

What effect do temperature shocks have on climate policy? Existing studies show that temperature shocks have negative economic impacts, while others show that temperature shocks increase public awareness of climate change. These findings help identify the impacts of climate change on economic and social systems, but the link between weather shocks and government policy is less well understood. I investigate the effect of temperature shocks across a range of national, international, and subnational climate policy outcomes. I argue that extreme temperatures provide reasons for governments to adopt climate policy reforms. However, in a global sample spanning 1990–2017, I find that temperature shocks have no impact on climate policy. Given that climate impacts are expected to increase this century and that climate policy is currently insufficient to manage climate change, these findings suggest that future temperature shocks alone will be insufficient to catalyze meaningful climate action.