This page describes how to use the document data download feature on our database, which is available at Climate Policy Radar and Climate Change Laws of the World.
Law and Policies in our database are assigned to families. Each family represents a single law or policy, but may be made up of several documents. For example, a family may include the text of a law, a translation of the law, and a press release explaining the law issued by the relevant government department. Some families are further grouped into collections, particularly for longstanding policy responses that have been developed over longer periods. An example of this is the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy.
Climate Policy Radar
Climate Change Laws of the World
Each row in this csv represents an individual document. Each family is given a unique family ID number, which is displayed in the column called "CPR Family ID". When a family contains more than one document, the family ID will appear more than once in the ID column. To find the total number of policy and law families currently in the database, you will need to isolate the family ID and ensure each one is counted only once. If you would like to count the total number of laws OR policies in the dataset, you will need to first filter by either legislative or executive families by applying the excel filter function to the Category column.
| Terms | Definition | Sample Data |
|---|---|---|
| Document ID | The unique identifier for this document used in the document URL. Also know as a ‘slug’. | adaptation-strategy-to-climate-change-in-the-czech-republic_213b |
You can rebuild the document URL from this ID using the format <Domain>/documents/<Document ID>. eg. https://app.climatepolicyradar.org/documents/adaptation-strategy-to-climate-change-in-the-czech-republic_213b | | Document Title | The title as displayed when a document file is opened. | | | Family ID | The unique identifier for this family used in the family URL. Also know as a ‘slug’. | adaptation-strategy-to-climate-change-in-the-czech-republic_3c9c
You can rebuild the family URL from this ID using the format <Domain>/document/<Family ID). eg. https://app.climatepolicyradar.org/document/adaptation-strategy-to-climate-change-in-the-czech-republic_3c9c | | Family Title | The name used to describe the document(s) of a particular policy. In practice, the title of the main policy document will be the family name.
(Prev: The name of the family to which a document belongs. This is the same as the name of the main document in the family.) | For example, the 2020 Korean New Deal comprises the New Deal document itself and a press release about it, which together make up the family. | | Family Summary | A short explanation of the policy contained within a family of documents. | For example, a summary of Kenya’s National Adaptation Plan reads as a “document that identifies Kenya's vulnerabilities to the effect of climate change, adaptation actions and implementation strategies.” | | Collection Title(s) | The title of an overarching policy that unites a grouping of related documents
(Prev: Where applicable, the name of the collection to which the family belongs.) | For example, the UK’s Climate Change Act constitute a collection of policy documents, one of which include the UK’s Sixth Carbon Budget. The Budget is part of this collection because its publication is mandated under the Act. | | Collection Description(s) | A short explanation of the overarching policy that unites a collection of related documents.
(Prev: Where applicable, a summary of the collection to which the family belongs.) | For example, a summary of South Korea’s 2050 Carbon Neutral Scenario Roadmaps would look like: “The presidential committee on carbon neutrality released in October 2021 two roadmaps.They consist of two scenarios in which the domestic net emissions reach to zero in 2050. In plan A, emissions are reduced as much as possible, such as cessation of thermal power generation, while in plan B, removal technologies such as CCS are used to compensate for the remaining of some thermal power capacity.” | | Document Role | The role a document plays in its legislative or policy-making process (e.g. is it the main or supporting document, or an amendment) | | | Document Variant | Whether the document is written in its original language or is a translation | | | Document Content URL | The address to a web page where you can directly read or access the content of a policy document | | | Document Type | The form by which a policy document presents itself (e.g. a plan, strategy, law). Each document belongs to one of a fixed set of types defined by CPR.
| | | Category | A classification that indicates whether the source of a policy document is legislative, executive or a submission to UN Conventions. | For example, Hungary's National Inventory Report 2022 to the UNFCCC will be classified as a document 'submitted under the UNFCCC'. | | Framework | If the main document in the family is a framework law on climate change, this field indicates what kind of framework (i.e. mitigation or adaptation) it relates to.
For context on what framework laws are, the LSE’s Grantham Institute describes framework laws for climate change as having the following characteristics: “they set out the strategic direction for national climate change policy; are passed by the legislative branch of government; contain national, long-term and/or medium targets and/or pathways for change; set out institutional arrangements for climate governance at the national level; are multi-sectoral in scope; and involve mechanisms for transparency and/or accountability.” | For example, Peru’s Framework Law on Climate Change sets out in various provisions its long-term climate strategy, nationally determined contribution, alongside its sectoral and subnational plans of mitigation and adaptation actions to reach the country’s intended targets. | | Language | The primary language(s) used in a particular document | | | Source | The data source from which the policy document was extracted. | | | Geography ISO | The international three-letter standard country code that we use to refer to a particular country or place. | | | Geography | The jurisdiction whose national government or policy-making body authored the policy documents in a family.
(This broad definition is intended to capture supranational bodies (e.g. EU) and de facto states whose political status is contested (e.g. Taiwan) | | | Topic/Response | Topic or response relates to whether the documents in the family relate to adaptation, mitigation, loss and damage, disaster risk management or a combination of the above. | | | Hazard | The natural hazards referred to in a family of documents | For example, Vanuatu’s Meteorology, Geological Hazards and Climate Change Act no 25/2016 discusses disaster risk management responses to hazards that include “floods, droughts and storms” | | Sector | This tag explains which are the most relevant sectors of the global economy to which a policy document relates.
CPR’s current methodology considers the following as sectors: “Agriculture, Transport, Energy, Waste, Environment, Tourism, Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), Industry, Buildings, Water, Health, Public Sector, and Other”. These sectors are those identified in IPCC reports.
Where a document relates to multiple sectors or appears cross-cutting in intention, we assign the labels ‘economy-wide’ or ‘cross-cutting area’. In some instances, multi-sectoral documents may also be categorised as related to ‘Disaster Risk Management (DRM)’, ‘Adaptation’, or ‘Social Development’.
We also consider whether laws relate primarily to urban or rural sectors of the economy and/or to coastal zones. We currently only cover waste laws that explicitly mention methane, another greenhouse gas, or if they deal with waste-to-energy schemes. | For example, Zimbabwe’s National Water Policy pertains to sectors that include “agriculture, social development and water” | | Keyword | The main concepts or themes addressed in a policy document | For example, keywords identified in Portugal’s National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 include “transport”, “biofuels”, “health”, “biogas” and “agriculture” | | Instrument | Instruments are labels that provide a broad-level indication of the tools and methods used by a national government to implement particular policies and legislation. The labels have been curated by a pre-defined set of CPR policy instrument taxonomies. | For example, Chile’s Climate Change Adaptation Plan for Biodiversity are tagged with instrument labels that include “processes, plans and strategies, governance and international cooperation”, which summarise a range of policy responses that form part of Chile’s Plan. | | Author | The national government or organizational body that has authored a submission to the UN Convention. | | | Author Type | A classification that indicates whether the author of the policy document is a Party or Non-Party to the UN Convention (e.g. UNFCCC). | | | First event in timeline | The date of the first recorded event in the policy-making process that relates to this law or policy.
This often refers to the date on which a policy or law was passed, approved or entered into force.
Alternatively, if the document is an amendment or update to a law or policy, this could also refer to the date on which a policy or law has been amended or updated. | | | Last event in timeline | The date of the last recorded event in the policy-making process that relates to this law or policy. | | | Full timeline of events (types) | This field sets out all the recorded events in the timeline of the policy-making process of this law or policy. | | | Full timeline of events (dates) | This field sets out all the recorded dates in the timeline of the policy-making process of this law or policy. | | | Date Added to System | The data on which this document entry was added into CPR’s system | | | Last Modified on System | The date on which this document entry was last modified in CPR’s system. | | | Internal Document ID | The internal system ID used by our database developers to uniquely identify a document | | | Internal Family ID | The internal system ID used by our database developers to uniquely identify a family | | | Internal Collection ID(s) | The internal system ID used by our database developers to uniquely identify a collection | |