Climate policies are becoming stronger worldwide, according to a new survey by Oxford University researchers and international law firms. The study, which analyzed climate-related laws and regulations in 37 major countries, found that despite political challenges in the United States and Europe, many nations are still moving forward with more ambitious climate rules.
Since the previous survey in 2024, several countries—especially in Asia and emerging markets—have introduced or reinforced climate policies. However, there have also been setbacks. The Trump Administration has rolled back some climate measures in the US, while the European Union is reconsidering or delaying certain regulations related to corporate disclosure. The outcomes of these changes remain uncertain.
Professor Thomas Hale of the Blavatnik School of Government explained: "On balance, climate policies are getting stronger. Across the 37 jurisdictions, policies moved closer to best practice in 82 instances and weakened in 42 instances." He added that developing countries are increasingly leading on climate action but warned that current efforts still fall short of what is needed to prevent severe impacts from climate change.
Hale noted a shift in leadership: "The engine of climate policy has moved to emerging economies. In some regulatory domains, like rules requiring companies to disclose their emissions and other information related to climate change, African and Latin American countries now show higher ambition, on average, than European and North American countries."
He continued: "The US rollback has a real impact, but the long-term trend to transition remains increasingly clear even in the face of unprecedented contestation."
Despite progress on setting targets—including a reported 9 percent increase over the past year in company net zero commitments within the United States—global emissions continue to rise. Professor Hale pointed out gaps: "In four out of the six policy domains examined by our study, fewer than five governments are meeting key benchmarks for policy ambition. More concerning, no jurisdiction has sufficiently ambitious methane policy."
Dr Thom Wetzer, Associate Professor at Oxford’s Faculty of Law and Director of the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme said: "Governments need to adopt better climate rules, faster, to align climate policies with the latest science." He emphasized that as countries prepare new pledges under the Paris Agreement at COP30 in Belem in the Amazon region, it is essential they support these goals with concrete regulations.
The findings come from the second annual report produced by the Oxford Climate Policy Monitor—a public resource assessing national regulations across more than 300 data points within six areas: carbon credits; public procurement; transition planning; methane reduction; climate-related disclosure; and green prudential rules for financial institutions.
This research forms part of broader initiatives at Oxford University focused on advancing global responses to climate change through collaborative projects such as the Oxford Climate Policy Hub and Oxford Net Zero cluster.