Climate Framework Law

A law that sets the overall architecture of a country’s climate policy rather than regulating a single sector: long-term and interim targets, carbon budgets or milestones, the institutions responsible, independent advice, and duties to plan, report and review. Sectoral measures such as a carbon price or efficiency standards then operate within that framework.

Why it matters in the room

A framework law is the most direct sign that a pledge has become a domestic legal duty. Its accountability machinery (reporting to parliament, independent assessment, review clauses) usually determines whether a target survives changes of government.