How do climate institutions matter? strategic challenges and the policy process effects of climate institutions

Climate institutions, including climate laws and advisory bodies, have proliferated globally. But do they matter? Existing work either analyses quantitatively how these institutions correlate with policy outcomes, like stringency or emissions reductions, or qualitatively examines a single type of institution. Neither strand provides tools to systematically identify, analyse, and compare the effects of these institutions on the policymaking process itself. We therefore develop a framework which provides replicable criteria to identify climate institutions and traces how institutions' formal functions interact with country-specific moderating variables to address strategic challenges in climate policymaking. Applying the framework to qualitatively compare climate institutions in Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Australia, we show they support agenda-setting, increase transparency, signal commitment, and hold governments accountable. By conceptualising a new class of effects, we show how climate institutions can matter and provide a tool for comparative analysis of meso-level institutions.