Timeline of governance and policy studies 2020&ndash;present

Timeline of governance and policy studies 2020–present

Timeline of significant events in policy studies, international relations sample of) Americans widely underestimate general public support for climate change mitigation policies by a large margin.
Space policy
;2021
* November - A study reports that, as plans for space exploration and commercial use expand rapidly, planetary biosecurity protocols should be substantially enhanced with sophisticated protocols - beyond goals and recommendations - being "required to prevent biological contamination of extraterrestrial environments from Earth and vice versa".
;2022
* April - Scientists suggest in a study that space governance of satellites/space debris should regulate the current free externalization of true costs and risks, with orbital space around the Earth being an "additional ecosystem" which should be subject to regulations as e.g. oceans on Earth.
Security studies
Studies from the fields of security studies about policies.
* Early 2020s - Studies investigate potential pandemic prevention policies, with experts also discussing potential policies concerned with biosafety.
Health policy
Health policy studies not substantially related to environmental or conflict issues.
;2020
* March - A study reviews social policy experiments to improve health.
;2021
* January - A study reviews tobacco control policies worldwide.
* April - A study reviews policies - such as targeted taxes or subsidies for truly healthy foods - to reduce ultra-processed food consumption and promote healthier eating.
* May - Psychiatrists report that in drug liberalization "more genuine and sounder reform concepts are needed" to "genuinely move 'drug use' from a crime to a public health issue" and that such would "require consideration of legalization and regulation frameworks".
* June - Influence of "vested corporate interests on the activities of the World Health Organization and UN bodies" is investigated, with a study exploring "how ultra-processed food industry actors have attempted to influence policy at WHO".
* November - An analysis of 194 countries concludes that aggregate policy score mean implementation of WHO-recommended population-level policies against non-communicable diseases had increased only slowly - from 39% in 2015 to 47% in 2020 - and had reversed for a third of all policies, with implementation lowest for policies relating to alcohol, tobacco, and unhealthy foods.
* November - Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a meta-analysis investigates and compares the efficacy of public health COVID-19 mitigation policies.
;2022
* August - An expert survey study indicates there may be substantial difference in drug policy and "professional beliefs about psychoactive drugs among psychiatrists".
General and other
;2020
* May - A study presents a new approach to innovation policy "in which the state is not only fixing markets but actively co-creating them", concluding i.a. that policies "that explicitly take into consideration the risk-taking entrepreneurial role of the state, can positively affect reward distributions and favor more equitable public-private partnerships".
;2021
* June - A study introduces a typology of identified strategies used by industries to maximise the volume, credibility, reach, and use of industry-favourable science.
* August - A study illustrates "how the fossil fuel industry has funded biased economic analyses to oppose climate policy".
* October - Researchers release a "policy sequencing" framework, in particular for policies of polycentric governance for completely halting and preventing deforestation based on data about already implemented government-designed policies, UN-decided initiatives and voluntary private sector initiatives of recent deforestation interventions.
;2022
* 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine: Scientists warn that policy-makers should not abandon sustainable farming practices to increase grain production in response to resulting food insecurity, but change "the demand side which can lead to both a more resilient and more sustainable global food system" - such as limiting the import of animal feed - and e.g. expanding wheat production in high-productivity areas (March). A researcher outlined a number of possible major policy-based actions that could mitigate the energy and resource crises caused or exacerbated by the war (June). In a study, researchers argue that "expansion of the natural gas infrastructure hinders a renewable energy future and is no bridge technology".
* March - Wicked Problems in Public Policy is published. In the book, a researcher provides analysis and reflection about solving complex and wicked problems in terms of solution-contributions of research and analysis and approaches to solving them have developed along/within society in recent years. One chapter highlights a problem of evidence-based policy approaches that "Evidence and expertise are mobilised selectively by policy actors to influence the perceived credibility of their own favoured policy options".
* August - A meta-analysis of policy studies concludes that international treaties that aim to foster global cooperation have mostly failed to produce their intended effects in addressing global challenges, with the exception of international trade and finance regulations. The study suggests enforcement mechanisms are the "only modifiable treaty design choice" with the potential to improve the effectiveness.
Digital policy
Financial policies
Policies relating to anti-money laundering, tax-evasion/tax havens, sourcing of finances for policies and similar topics or fields.
;2020
* February - A study concludes that "anti-money laundering policy intervention has less than 0.1 percent impact on criminal finances, compliance costs exceed recovered criminal funds more than a hundred times over, and banks, taxpayers and ordinary citizens are penalized more than criminal enterprises". It suggests "The 'success rate' of Europe's anti-money laundering effort is puny. Likewise, globally."
Research and development, organization and coordination
Research and development relating to policy-making or policy analysis as well as associated organizations or coordination.
;2021
* March - The Decarbonisation Policy Evaluation Tool, an online interface that systematically synthesizes "in an easily searchable manner what is known - and what is not known - about the impact of different policies used to accelerate low-carbon energy transitions on a set of seven performance indicators", is introduced in a study. The study summarizes findings about outcomes and trade-offs of ten types of decarbonization policy instruments, suggesting that policies "can be designed and balanced to benefit local firms and lower-income families".
* August - A study concludes that personal carbon allowances (PCAs) could be a component of climate change mitigation adn suggest that that the economic recovery from COVID-19 and novel digital technology capacities open a window of opportunity for first trial implementations in climate-conscious technologically advanced countries. PCAs would consist of - e.g. monetary - credit-feedbacks and decreasing default levels - aligned with calculated regional maximum emissions for emission-target achievement - of per capita emissions allowances.
Science-policy interface
;2021
* February - Scientists argue that there is a need for a "global science-policy body on chemicals and waste".
* June - A study identifies 14 strategies to building trust at the interface of environmental science and policy and suggest that such is a "critical pre-condition for achieving evidence-informed policy".
;2022
* May - A review concludes that, like in 2015, pollution (¾ from air pollution) was responsible for 9 million premature deaths in 2019 (one in six deaths). It concludes that little real progress against pollution can be identified and outlines needs for attention and action such as a "formal science-policy interface" (SPI).

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