A Systematic Literature Review on Climate Change: Contemporary Challenges in Environmental Laws

A systematic literature review was conducted and the PRISMA cheklist is stored as per publisher requirements. The purpose of the systematic literature review on climate change was to assess the contemporary challenges in environmental laws. A systematic literature review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework. The search was performed on Emerald Insight, Sage Journals, Springer, Taylor and Francis, and Science Direct. The database search resulted in identifying 7,910 articles, but only 23 were identified as suitable for inclusion in the systematic review. Based on the thematic analysis conducted, it was identified that the contemporary challenges in environmental laws relating to climate change are (a) ambiguity in environmental laws adoption, (b) increased reliance on technical solutions for climate change, (c) permissive phrasing of environmental tax laws, (d) political inaction, (e) individualism, (f) state-centric approach, and (g) securitization. The findings in this study provide a comprehensive overview of the contemporary challenges in environmental laws specific to climate change and related to different countries. The study findings could be subject to publication bias. The heterogeneity of the research designs is limited in conducting a meta-analysis. Conversely, the findings promoted identifying contemporary challenges in environmental law related to climate change, which provides policymakers and future researchers guidance.