“One key focus of current climate discourse is the need to raise the level of ambition of collective emission reductions in order to protect the climate (UNEP, 2012). Any emission reductions outlined, however, remain hollow gestures unless translated into actions implemented on the ground. The implementation of mitigation actions (MAs) thus requires public policy interventions at domestic level. Due to the emerging nature of MAs there is at time of writing (July 2013) no standardised approach to the implementation of mitigation policy in developing countries. This paper considers whether the implementation of MA policy in developing countries would be subject to similar impediments as other (non-mitigation related) public policy interventions. It focuses on case studies drawn from the Mitigation Action Plans and Scenarios Programme (MAPS) projects in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. Based on previous desktop studies and interviews with MAPS researchers, several variables have been identified as having the potential to pose risks to the implementation of MAs. These include finance, technical capacity, vested interests, and social acceptance of the policies. This analysis proposes that MAs might more likely to be implemented if a range of possible impediments or risks to implementation are considered earlier in the planning and selection stages. In order to test this approach rigorously, more policies explicitly aimed at implementing MAs are needed, and more attempts at implementing MAs need to be made. This working paper forms a basis for further research that considers policy and implementation.”
