Ebba Mark, a DPhil student at Magdalen College and researcher with Magdalen’s Calleva Centre, has played a key role in a new study published in Science. Her and her co-authors’ work could help guide global efforts to meet the Paris Climate Accord targets.
The research was conducted in collaboration with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, and Climate Econometrics at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School (INET Oxford), and it identifies 63 successful climate policy interventions that have achieved significant reductions in CO2 emissions. Ebba and her co-authors’ work has been covered in the Financial Times, the Economist, the Guardian, and the New York Times.
The study compared a global dataset of 1,500 observed policies from 41 countries across two decades. Using an ambitious, systematic approach and a novel methodology, the researchers were able to detect key moments, or ‘emission breaks,’ following the introduction of policy interventions. The authors’ headline finding is that, despite the extensive environmental policy efforts worldwide, only 63 cases of successful interventions with large effects could be identified. However, Ebba and her co-authors see these examples as a beacon of hope, demonstrating that policy interventions, when effectively implemented, can yield meaningful results. To that end, Ebba and one of her co-authors detailed the implications of their work in a panel discussion at the Oxford Smith School last month.
Ebba’s contribution to this research builds on her wider work with Professor Jennifer Castle at the Calleva Centre, which is committed to addressing pressing global issues through interdisciplinary research. By combining data-driven analysis with insights from psychology and economics, the Calleva Centre supports research like Mark’s that seek to make a tangible impact on the world.
For more information on Ebba Mark’s work at the Calleva Centre and the Centre’s other initiatives, please visit its website.
