Contextual factors for effective climate policies in the energy sector: a systematic review of entry points

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides a systematic methodology and empirical evidence on how contextual factors moderate policy effectiveness in energy transition.

🏛政策担当者:Offers actionable entry points and regional groupings for designing effective climate policies in the energy sector.

<b>Background:</b> The effectiveness of climate policies in the energy sector depends on contextual factors specific to the implementing region. Understanding which contextual factors co-occur with policies supporting the energy sector transition towards climate neutrality is central to determining promising policy interventions in regions with similar characteristics. <b>Methods:</b> We conduct a machine learning-assisted systematic literature review to answer the following question: which combinations of effective policy interventions and contextual factors are identified in the empirical literature as contributing to the deployment of mitigation technologies or transitioning away from fossil fuels? These combinations of contextual factors and effective policy interventions are distinct opportunities for change, and thus entry points for a transition to climate neutrality. Our review exclusively covers studies that conduct an ex-post evaluation of climate policies in the energy sector and are published after the decision on the Paris Agreement in 2015. <b>Results:</b> We find that the three enabling contextual factors most frequently cited by the literature are institutional capacity (institutional feasibility), interest group support (social feasibility), and market structure (economic feasibility). Overall, the majority of enabling contextual factors identified in the literature relate to ‘economic feasibility’. Further, we identify distinct regional groups that share similar entry points supporting the transition in the energy sector. Our findings offer actionable guidance for policy makers seeking feasible energy transition pathways in their national context. Climate policy effectiveness in the energy sector varies systematically across regional contexts: institutional capacity, interest group support, and market structure are the key contextual factors shaping effective policy intervention. We identify five regional groups for renewable deployment: in developed economies, (i) advanced financial markets use portfolio standards and market certificates; (ii) institutional capacity and policy continuity contexts use FiTs and state loans; (iii) local governance contexts enable regulatory streamlining. In emerging economies, (iv) strong state control contexts use FiTs, auctions, subsidies, and state investment; (v) cost-driven regions use auctions and risk-sharing to meet rising energy demand. For transitioning away from coal: (i) institution-based transitions use stakeholder commissions and retirement premiums; (ii) market-driven exits rely on substitution and regulatory pressure; (iii) financially constrained contexts depend on international climate finance.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.32842501.v1first seen 2026-07-23 05:00:38