CoAct Database Research

The CoAct Database provides essential insights into the global landscape of cooperative climate action and is frequently used in high-impact analyses. By collaborating with a broader network on tracking and analysing voluntary climate action - including with the ACHIEVE, CAMDA, and BioCAM4 projects - CoAct data forms the basis for and contributes to international high-impact research. The data feeds into both scientific articles and technical reports, informing recommendations to strengthen the integrity of voluntary climate action.

Recently, analysis by the CoAct Team has contributed to the Yearbook of Global Climate action, based on the report Ten years of global climate action: Insights from the CoAct Database. The CoAct Team is in close contact with the High Level Champions Team and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to ensure alignment with ongoing data collection efforts and to support the transparency and accessibility of information on climate initiatives.

Below, we provide an overview of selected publications based on CoAct data, as well as other related publications.

Key publications

  • Chan, S., Glass, L.-M., Hagenström, P., Imbach, P., Peterson, L., Reyes de la Lanza, S., & Van den Wall Bake, K. (2025). Ten Years of Global Climate Action Insights from the CoAct Database. Radboud University; German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS); Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17582801

  • Chan, S., Hale, T., Deneault, A., Shrivastava, M., Mbeva, K., Chengo, V., & Atela, J. (2022). Assessing the effectiveness of orchestrated climate action from five years of summits. Nature Climate Change, 12(7), 628-633. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01405-6

  • Chan, S., Faulkner, R., Goldberg, M., & van Asselt, H. (2018) Effective and geographically balanced? An output-based assessment of non-state climate actions. Climate Policy, 18:1, 24-35. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2016.1248343
    The first application of the FOF method; supplementary material goes into further detail

  • Hale, T. N., Chan, S., Hsu, A., Clapper, A., Elliott, C., Faria, P., Kuramochi, T., McDaniel, S., Morgado, M., Roelfsema, M., Santaella, M., Singh, N., Tout, I., Weber, C., Weinfurter, A. & Widerberg, O. (2021). Sub- and non-state climate action: a framework to assess progress, implementation and impact. Climate Policy, 21:3, 406-420. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2020.1828796


Related publications

  • Hsu, A., Chan, S., Roelfsema, M., Schletz, M., Kuramochi, T., Smit, S., Deneault, A. (2023) From drumbeating to marching: Assessing non-state and subnational climate action using data. One Earth, 6(9), 1077 - 1081. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.08.021

  • Chan, S., Bauer, S., Betsill, M.M., Biermann, F., Boran, I., Bridgewater, P., Bulkeley, H., Bustamente, M.M.C., Deprez, A., Dodds, F., Hoffmann, M., Hornidge, A.K., Hughes, A., Imbach, P., Ivanova, M., Köberle, A., Kok, M.T.J., Lwasa, S., Morrison, T., Pörtner, H.O., Sari, A.P., VanDeveer, S.D., Vollmer, D., Widerberg, O., & Pettorelli, N. (2023) The global biodiversity framework needs a robust action agenda. Nature Ecology & Evolution 7(2), 172–173. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01953-2

  • Widerberg, O., Boran, I., Chan, S., Deneault, A., Kok, M. & Negacz, K. et al. (2023) Finding synergies and trade-offs when linking biodiversity and climate change through cooperative initiatives. Global Policy, 14(1), 157–161. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13158

  • Obergassel, W., Bauer, S., Hermwille, L., Aykut, S. C., Boran, I., Chan, S., Fraude, C., Klein, R. J. T., Mar, K. A., Schroeder, H., & Simeonova, K. (2022). From regime-building to implementation: Harnessing the UN climate conferences to drive climate action. WIREs Climate Change, 13(6), e797. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.797

  • Chan, S., Eichhorn, F., Biermann, F., & Teunissen, A. (2021). A Momentum for Change? Systemic effects and catalytic impacts of transnational climate action. Earth System Governance, 9, 100119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2021.100119

  • Chan, S., Boran, I., van Asselt, H., Ellinger, P., Garcia, M., Hale, T., Hermwille, L., Liti Mbeva, K., Mert, A., Roger, C.B., Weinfurter, A., Widerberg, O., Bynoe, P., Chengo, V., Cherkaoui, A., Edwards, T., Gütschow, M., Hsu, A., Hultman, N., Levaï, D., Mihnar, S., Posa, S., Roelfsema, M., Rudyk, B., Scobie, M. and Shrivastava, M.K. (2021), Climate Ambition and Sustainable Development for a New Decade: A Catalytic Framework. Global Policy, 12(3), 245-259. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12932

  • Hsu, A., Brandt, J., Widerberg, O., Chan, S., & Weinfurter, A. (2020) Exploring links between national climate strategies and non-state and subnational climate action in nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Climate Policy, 20(4), 443-457, https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2019.1624252

  • Chan, S., & Amling, W. (2019). Does orchestration in the Global Climate Action Agenda effectively prioritize and mobilize transnational climate adaptation action?. International Environmental Agreements 19(4), 429–446. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-019-09444-9

  • Chan, S., & Mitchell, R. (2020). How to Evaluate Agents and Agency. In M. Betsill, T. Benney, & A. Gerlak (Eds.), Agency in Earth System Governance (pp. 168-180). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108688277.014

  • Chan, S., Boran, I., Van Asselt, H., Iacobuta, G., Niles, N., Rietig, K., Scobie., M., Bansard, J.S., Delgado Pugley, D., Delina, L.L., Eichhorn, F., Ellinger, P., Enechi, O., Hale., T., Hermwille, L., Hickmann, T., Honegger, M., Hurtado Epstein, A., La Hoz Theuer, S., Mizo, R., Sun, Y., Toussain. P. & Wambugu, G. (2019). Promises and risks of nonstate action in climate and sustainability governance. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 10(3), e572. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.572
    (This article places the context of transnational action)

  • Hsu, A., Höhne, N., Kuramochi, T., Roelfsema, M., Weinfurter, A., Xie, Y., Lütkehermöller, K., Chan, S., Corfee-Morlot, J., Drost, P., Faria, P., Gardiner, A., Gordon, D.J., Hale, T., Hultmann, N.E., Moorhead, J., Reuvers, S., Setzer, J., Singh, N., Weber, C., Widerberg, O. (2019). A research roadmap for quantifying non-state and subnational climate mitigation action. Nature Climate Change 9(1), 11–17. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0338-z


Reports

  • NewClimate Institute, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Radboud University. (2022). Global Climate Action 2022: How have international initiatives delivered, and what more is possible? Research report prepared by the team of: Takeshi Kuramochi, Sander Chan, Sybrig Smit, Andrew Deneault, Natalie Pelekh.

  • NewClimate Institute, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Radboud University. (2022). Global Climate Action 2022: How have international initiatives delivered, and what more is possible? Research report prepared by: Kuramochi, T., Chan, S., Smit, S., Deneault, A., Pelekh, N.

  • Kuramochi, T., Smit, S., Hans, F., Horn, J., Lütkehermöller, K., Nascimento, L., Emmrich, J., Höhne, N., Hsu, A., Mapes, B. and Wang, X. (2021). Global, climate action from cities, regions and businesses: Taking stock of the impact of individual actors and cooperative initiatives on global greenhouse gas emissions.

  • NewClimate Institute, Data-Driven Lab, PBL, German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. Global climate action from cities, regions and businesses: Impact of individual actors and cooperative initiatives on global and national emissions. 2019 edition. Research report prepared by the team of: Takeshi Kuramochi, Swithin Lui, Niklas Höhne, Sybrig Smit, Maria Jose de Villafranca Casas, Frederic Hans, Leonardo Nascimento, Paola Tanguy, Angel Hsu, Amy Weinfurter, Zhi Yi Yeo, Yunsoo Kim, Mia Raghavan, Claire Inciong Krummenacher, Yihao Xie, Mark Roelfsema, Sander Chan, Thomas Hale.
    (See also the two annexes)