Climate Policy Radar has launched the Subnational Policy Library, an open, searchable collection of climate laws, plans, and policies from more than 130 states and regions worldwide, with the Under2 Coalition as its primary data partner. It helps governments learn from what others have already tried, and connects state and regional action to national plans and global climate goals.
States and regions are responsible for the majority of climate-related public investment, in sectors such as energy, transport, housing, and water. Yet learning and coordinating action across levels of governance can be difficult, because the laws and policies they enact are rarely visible beyond their own jurisdictions – scattered across government websites, languages, and formats.
The Subnational Policy Library brings these documents together in one place, so anyone can see how states and regions are acting on climate change, compare approaches, and find examples to adapt. It draws on data from the Under2 Coalition, the largest global network of states and regions committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, with Climate Group as Secretariat, alongside POLEA (Mexico), Scetti (India), JUMA (Brazil), and LACLIMA (Brazil), as well as the Grantham Research Institute at LSE.
The Library builds on the same infrastructure that underpins Climate Policy Radar's database of more than 35,000 climate and nature governance documents. Every document is full-text searchable, automatically translated into English, and organised by concepts defined by policy experts, so users can find relevant passages even when documents use different terms for the same idea.
Dr Michal Nachmany, founder and CEO of Climate Policy Radar, said: “So much implementation is happening at state and province level, and each law passed is experience that another government could use tomorrow. Today most of it sits out of sight, in different languages and formats. Making it searchable in one place means a government drafting a transport or housing retrofit plan starts from what has been tried, not from a blank page. That is the difference between climate ambition and climate delivery."
Champa Patel, Executive Director for Governments & Policy, Climate Group, said: “The subnational climate solutions we need already exist. The challenge is making sure governments can find them, learn from them, and put them into action.
States and regions are driving climate delivery, but too often their experience remains within their own borders. The Subnational Policy Library changes that, giving governments a practical way to learn from one another, adapt proven policies, and accelerate progress. By making this knowledge accessible, we can strengthen collaboration across levels of government and turn ambition into implementation.”
Searching the Library already reveals how states and regions are approaching climate action. Of its 253 documents, almost two-thirds (163) set out concrete targets, and more than a third (94) include net-zero targets. Six in ten refer to zoning and spatial planning, reflecting the powers states and regions hold over land use. More than two-thirds mention young people, and over half refer to women and minority genders.
The launch follows the partnership between the Under2 Coalition and Climate Policy Radar announced at Climate Week NYC in September. Climate Policy Radar plans to expand the Library to cover more states and regions. Governments, networks, and organisations interested in contributing documents, collaborating, or sharing feedback can contact info@climatepolicyradar.org.
