Climate action close to home: The role of public attitudes and policy responses in reducing greenhouse gas emissions

There has been a sharp increase in sub-national climate mitigation initiatives since the 2000s. However, the impact of these initiatives on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remains unclear. In this study, we construct a panel combining emissions data with local climate policies reported to transnational municipal networks, and public opinion data for 218 European Union sub-national regions for the years 2010–2019. We use this dataset to test if public attitudes towards climate change influence the provision of local climate policies and whether these policies contribute to emissions reductions. Our analysis finds a positive association between local climate policy and local public sentiments such as climate change concern, economic optimism linked to policies, and perceived responsibility of the government. We also find that the adoption of local climate policies significantly reduces GHG emissions per capita in these regions in the long run. Finally, local policies are especially effective in achieving emission reductions in stringent national climate policy contexts, but local policy-makers are found to provide more policies if national climate policies are lax. • Local climate policy is effective in reducing emissions in the medium to long-run. • Local and national climate policies are complementary. • The provision of local climate policies decreases with national policy stringency. • Public attitudes towards climate change drive the provision of local climate policies.