Democratic Climate Policies

While a large literature provides climate policy recommendations, these recommendations are a priori not supported democratically since the models used consider either infinitely-lived individuals or normative social objectives (or both). By contrast, the present paper provides policy recommendations that would go through democratic processes. I develop a model with overlapping generations and political processes. I analyze how democratic policies, which are directly and indirectly related to climate change, differ from standard recommended policies. I highlight that young generation voting power and individual altruism toward descendants are key determinants of democratic climate policy ambition.