Search

This paper analyzes how uncertainty and an unequal distribution of costs across countries affect governments’ preferences towards the timing and design of climate change policies. In choosing and enacting climate change policies, governments have to deal ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines progress made by EU and other European nations in achieving the targets they agreed to when they ratified the Kyoto Protocol and the additional goals some countries have set unilaterally, assesses the policies they have put in place to pursue these goals and how these policies compare; and explores the political factors that contribute to the political support for these efforts. The paper uses theories and frameworks from comparative public policy and politics to assess these policy and political developments, and seeks to identify lessons from Europe concerning how to generate political support for precautionary climate policies and the kinds of policies that are most effective in efficiently reducing greenhouse gas emissions that might help move climate policy forward in the United States. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I will start with a discussion of the ?ET pregnancy?. Why is it meaningful to characterise it as ?ultra-quick?? Based on a summary of the main milestones and development of the process, a central tool will be to compare this process with some other relevant EU processes and also with central developments within the global Kyoto Protocol context. In section three I will then turn to some important possible explanations for this speediness. First, the experienced physician would take a closer look at the real starting point of the pregnancy. Had the EU actually been pregnant for some time when talks about ET picked up speed in 1998; could it be that the pregnancy in reality started when the EU started to develop climate policy back in 1991/1992? In other words, we need to look at central problem characteristics and the very ?ripeness? of the ET issue within the EU context around 1998. Second, could it be that a strong and heavy-handed midwife contributed to a shortening of the pregnancy period? This of course refers to the seemingly dominant role of the Commission indicated above. Could it be that a unified and strong Commission provided the entrepreneurial services needed to ?install? this complex system in record time; hence providing the sort of problem-solving capacity sorely lacking in other international contexts? Moreover, was this strong role of the Commision combined with positive and ?abiding? other EU institutions? Third, it is common knowledge that external impulses and shocks may shorten a pregnancy. This refers to interaction, linkages and learning in relation to bodies, actors and processes outside of the EU. Among other things, it is here natural to consider the US withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol process in March 2001. This may have opened a window of opportunity for EU global climate leadership and may have spurred the development of internal EU climate policy. Finally, section four will sum up central findings and reflect a little on implications for future effectiveness. Does the ?ultra-quick pregnancy? mean ?a premature baby?? For instance, could it be that central stakeholders and target groups have not been adequately consulted and important policy externalities have not been taken into consideration? Moreover, do recent developments in terms of Member States? follow-up of the 2003 Directive further substantiate that the EU ET policy-making speed is a quite break-neck one? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes how the introduction of specific policy instruments in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) affects the implementation of such agreements. The empirical focus is on the implementation of the provision of the Kyoto Protocol rela ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countries vary considerably in the stringency and type of their domestic climate policies as well as regarding their international commitments displayed in varying levels of reduction targets in the Kyoto Protocol. What are the explanatory factors for this variance? In our paper we firstly analyse in how far countries are comparable regarding their degree of ambition in climate policies despite of different preferences as regards policy instruments. Secondly, we relate the policy outputs of the Annex 1 countries to a model of environmental policy capacities. We first develop a measure of climate policy performance to capture the various aspects of climate policy. Our index draws together existing quantitative and qualitative information on national climate policies. From an array of information, including e.g. emission targets, the portfolio of policy types (e.g. voluntary and regulatory approaches), and the use of flexible mechanisms, two information on the aggregate policy output are derived: a ranked, composite indicator on the one hand; and a multidimensional, unordered information - the profile of climate policy - as identified in a cluster analysis. The latter is able to capture the qualitative nature of climate policy, e.g. the sectors addressed and the policy types used. We then aim to explain the relative position of a country in terms of its capacity. Our model of capacities for environmental policies encompasses the relative strength, competence and configuration of the governmental and non-governmental proponents of environmental protection and the specific cognitive-informational, political-institutional and economic-technological framework conditions. Emphasis is put on issue specific capacities, e.g. the share of the CO2 intensive industries in GDP. Both the profile (cluster membership) and the aggregate performance measure are regressed against components of climate policy capacities. With our model of capacities we offer an explanation for the relative position of the degree of ambition of a country and we also analyse in how far the different elements of political capacity are decisive for the policy profile. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pressing global environmental problems such as climate change lead states to attempt to coordinate efforts to address the issue through the establishment of multilateral environmental agreements. While many studies highlight the lack of strength and relat ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]