Public Investment Must Be Paired with Regulation to Stop Climate Change

Report, Brookings

Climate policy has entered a new era as public investment increasingly moves to center stage. While essential for decarbonization, public investment is not enough—the carrots of investment need to go hand in hand with regulatory sticks. Drawing on the experience of late industrializers with “reciprocal control mechanisms,” this report advances our understanding of how to tie climate requirements to public investment. It introduces a typology of different types of green bargains, offers an empirical overview of green bargains, and recommends design choices—relating to government leverage, scope of climate requirements, and accountability—to make green bargains effective policy tools.