Climate change laws exceed 1,200 worldwide, finds LSE study

Legislation is 'cause for optimism' as big body of laws is hard to reverse

Nations around the world have adopted more than 1,200 laws to curb climate change, up from about 60 two decades ago, a sign of widening efforts to limit rising temperatures, according to a new study.

"Most countries have a legal basis on which future action can be built," said Patricia Espinosa, the UN's climate change chief, at an international meeting on climate change in Bonn, Germany.