Search

Since 2007 France has been systematically renovating government policy under the banner of sustainable development. This process, called the Grenelle de l'environnement, extends the official role given to environmental associations in certain of the State's advisory bodies. The institutional roots of the Grenelle are located in various precedents for consultative environmental practice in French administration. The role of Nicolas Hulot's 2006 ecological pact in making democratised environmental policy a higher presidential priority is then reviewed. At a procedural level, the Grenelle is shown to take France's meso-corporatist practices in the direction of deliberative democracy. Its newly adopted Energy-Climate tax shows how environmental groups can use discursive power to shape environmental legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does an organisation gain autonomy from the context in which it developed its activities? In contrast with the rest of the environmental movement in France, two organisations have experienced significant growth: Ligue de protection des oiseaux (LPO) and Greenpeace France. The evolution of these two key cases is examined, the analysis focusing on processes and effects of institutionalisation to underscore how both environmental movement organisations (EMOs) succeed in reconciling resource mobilisation and advocacy activities. Both organisations choose strategically which activities to undertake and which public to target in order to ensure the continuity of their organisations. Their enhanced 'capacity for action', relying as it does on resource mobilisation and policy-oriented activities, has further geared up their contribution to their respective international NGO networks as well as to public policy processes, including European policy issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on environmental issues that influenced the 2002 presidential and legislative elections in France. Intention of the Socialists party to develop public transportation; Details of environmental campaigns in 2002; Status of environmental policy under the leadership of President Jacques Chirac.

Describes the new environmental policy instruments (NEPI) in France as of March 2003. Characterization of environmental policy styles; Discussion on policy structures; Reasons for the adoption of NEPI.

Provides information on the influence of neo-corporatism on the environmental policy in France. Discussion on the French context of neo-corporatism; Information on the policies for several environmental issues; Effect of the changes and innovations in policy effectiveness.

Talks about the entry of eight candidates of the ecological movement to the French Parliament. Right-Left dilemma; Ecological debt; Electoral returns; Ecology and socialism; Necessity of a socialist ecology movement; Precarious victory of the ecologists.