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The article provides an overview of various environmental issues and legislative developments related to climate change and sustainability. It discusses concerns over extreme weather events, the lack of leadership in resiliency planning, and the need for long-term strategies to address increasing temperatures. The article also mentions a landmark case where Switzerland was found to have breached human rights by failing to protect citizens from climate change effects. It provides updates on bills being considered in Parliament, EU regulations on greenhouse gases, and domestic case law examples. Additionally, the article includes a list of ongoing and closed consultations on topics such as clean heat market mechanisms, carbon border adjustment mechanisms, and climate-related financial disclosures. It also highlights select committee reports on issues like deforestation, electric vehicles, and government resilience to extreme weather. The article concludes with news articles on the impact of climate change globally, including record-breaking temperatures in 2023 and the potential breach of the 1.5C temperature rise threshold. These findings emphasize the urgency of addressing climate change. [Extracted from the article]

The Green New Deal has been defined as "an unprecedented mobilization of resources to achieve 100% renewable energy to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions" (NEF, 2019, p.4). Currently there is consensus about its purpose, however, little has been theorized about its establishment in Colombia. In this sense, our objective is to identify the institutional changes required to establish a Green New Deal in Colombia, using a Delphi methodology, appropriate for interviewing experts. As a result of this research, it was found that, of the twelve useful public policies for their establishment identified in the theoretical framework, seven comply with the guidelines for assessing environmental policy instruments proposed by Labandeira et al. (2007) and therefore are considered necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. However, the indirect effects of environmental policies in the process were not sufficiently considered. This study uses a panel threshold methodology to examine the nonlinear impact of environmental policy stringency on the relationship between FDIs and GHG emissions in 25 OECD countries. Our results show a negative relationship between FDIs and GHG emissions if the countries have environmental policy stringency index above a threshold level of (2.22). The results are also supported by the fixed effects model, which indicates a threshold effect of (2.88). The threshold effect is mostly due to the stringency of nonmarket-based environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As climate change continues to increase both the frequency and intensity of environmental hazards and disasters, the need for a cohesive national mitigation policy grows. As the environmental federalism scholarship indicates, the inherent tension in federal, state, and local policy implementation highlights that despite a national need, environmental quality is a local public good. To complicate matters, there is disagreement about the optimal level of decision‐making regarding the adoption and implementation of environmental policy. This study addresses this gap by considering the role of policy ambiguity and conflict in policy implementation. The analysis relies on primary qualitative data collected from open‐ended interviews with 22 local government officials in 12 municipalities following Hurricane Harvey. Through the lens of policy ambiguity and conflict, we find confirmatory support for the idea that policies with less ambiguous goals are more likely to be implemented. Furthermore, we find that policy conflict arises when local governments perceive there is little for the community to gain by implementing the federal program. Thus, the level of protection afforded to citizens varies greatly between communities and is influenced heavily by politics. This research supports the Ambiguity‐Conflict Model of policy implementation, an oft‐cited but rarely tested theoretical framework for assessing the intergovernmental politics of policy implementation. It also demonstrates the barriers to local implementation of federal environmental policy in a nested system of government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In times of emergent emphases on how climate change will affect welfare societies, welfare policies and individuals' welfare and vice versa, this study investigates public support for welfare and environmental policies and concerns. Since previous research and literature have pointed towards a socioeconomic divide between the welfare agenda and the environmental agenda in terms of public support, this article makes a thorough socioeconomic analysis of public welfare and environmental attitudes. The article analyses data from an original study in the context of Sweden (n = 1529). Through multinomial logistic regression analysis this study investigates if and which socioeconomic factors increase the likelihood of expressing mutual support for welfare and environmental policies and concerns compared to expressing support for welfare or environmental policies and concerns in isolation, as well as no support at all. The results indicate that both low and high socioeconomic status factors increase the likelihood of expressing mutual welfare and environmental support. These factors are low - to middle-range income levels, high educational attainment and low - to high-status occupations. Accordingly, this study finds that individuals expressing mutual welfare and environmental support are less easily placed in the low to high socioeconomic continuum. This suggests that we need to go beyond the two established theoretical perspectives of self-interest and personal capabilities when explaining mutual welfare and environmental support and, for example, direct the attention to factors and theoretical points of departure that take post-materialism and non-economic dimensions into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic carbon emissions have the potential to trigger changes in climate and ecosystems that would be catastrophic for the well-being of humans and other species. Widespread shifts in production and consumption patterns are urgently needed to address climate change. Although transnational agreements and national policy are necessary for a transition to a fully decarbonized global economy, fluctuating political priorities and lobbying by vested interests have slowed these efforts. Against this backdrop, bottom-up pressure from social movements and shifting social norms may offer a complementary path to a more sustainable economy. Furthermore, norm change may be an important component of decarbonization policies by accelerating or strengthening the impacts of other demand-side measures. Individual actions and policy support are social processes—they are intimately linked to expectations about the actions and beliefs of others. Although prevailing social norms often reinforce the status quo and unsustainable development pathways, social dynamics can also create widespread and rapid shifts in cultural values and practices, including increasing pressure on politicians to enact ambitious policy. We synthesize literature on social-norm influence, measurement, and change from the perspectives of psychology, anthropology, sociology, and economics. We discuss the opportunities and challenges for the use of social-norm and social-tipping interventions to promote climate action. Social-norm interventions aimed at addressing climate change or other social dilemmas are promising but no panacea. They require in-depth contextual knowledge, ethical consideration, and situation-specific tailoring and testing to understand whether they can be effectively implemented at scale. Our review aims to provide practitioners with insights and tools to reflect on the promises and pitfalls of such interventions in diverse contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role of policy entrepreneurs in promoting change in flood risk mitigation at the local level in Sweden through a comparative study of two Swedish municipalities with different approaches to flood risk governance; as a technical issue or a social issue. The municipality in which flood risk mitigation is addressed as a social issue exhibits a larger size of the network mitigating flood risk, more diverse actors involved, and a more central location of the politicians and senior management. Moreover, the analysis points to the salience of a bureaucratic policy entrepreneur in promoting this shift toward addressing it as a social issue, and shows how they use relational strategies to frame the issue as relating to climate change action. The article operationalizes sociability and credibility, two of the attributes of policy entrepreneurs, and thus, contributes to the theoretical and methodological discussion of policy entrepreneurs in general, and as they pertain to environmental policy in particular. Related Articles: David, Charles‐Philippe. 2015. "Policy Entrepreneurs and the Reorientation of National Security Policy under the G. W. Bush Administration (2001‐04)." Politics & Policy 43 (1): 163‐195. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12106 Shock, David R. 2013. "The Significance of Opposition Entrepreneurs on Local Sales Tax Referendum Outcomes." Politics & Policy 41 (4): 588‐614. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12028 Sidha, Zedekia, Patrick Asingo, and Justine Magutu. 2021. "Street‐Level Bureaucrats as Policy Entrepreneurs: The Nexus between Timing of Traffic Enforcement Activities and Road Safety Policy Outcomes." Politics & Policy Early View. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12386 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We theoretically argue for and empirically examine, for the first time, a triangular relationship between concern among citizens about the environment, media attention to environmental issues, and policy output. Previous work has studied these relationships, but analyzed the respective links rather in isolation from each other. This research has significant implications for the understanding of environmental policymaking and, more generally, informs the debate on whether politicians respond to what voters want and under what circumstances this occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaps between public policy goals and the state of the environment are often significant. However, while goal failures in environmental governance are studied in a number of disciplines, the knowledge on the various causes behind delayed goal achievement is still incomplete. In this article we propose a new framework for analysis of delay mechanisms in science and policy, with the intention to provide a complementary lens for describing, analysing and counteracting delay in environmental governance. The framework is based on case-study findings from recent research focusing on goal-failures in policies for climate change, hazardous chemicals, biodiversity loss and eutrophication. It is also related to previous research on science and policy processes and their interactions. We exemplify the framework with two delay mechanisms that we consider particularly important to highlight—denial of science and decision thresholds. We call for further research in the field, for development of the framework, and not least for increased attention to delay mechanisms in environmental policy review and development on national as well as international levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does the number, ideological congruence, and/or individual cohesion of veto actors influence policy making to be incremental or drastic? Rather than compare veto actors across different states as is already extensively addressed, this article compares the different veto actors involved in Australia's 2011 Carbon Tax Policy and its 2014 "Carbon Tax Repeal" policy. It uses quantitative data to measure the number, ideological congruence, and individual cohesion of the different veto actors. The results show that, because of the smaller number of veto actors, their higher ideological congruence, and lower individual cohesion, policy making was rather drastic than incremental for the 2014 repeal policy compared to the 2011 Carbon Tax Policy. The results, however, challenge the assumption that many veto actors hinder effective policy change and suggest that because a single or few veto actors can easily execute drastic policy making, they can likewise easily halt effective policy. These have implications for policy making. Related Articles: Båtstrand, Sondre. 2015. "More than Markets: A Comparative Study of Nine Conservative Parties on Climate Change." Politics & Policy 43 (4): 538‐561. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12122 Fisher, Sarah. 2015. "Federalism's Fractured Decision Making in the Kyoto Protocol." Politics & Policy 43 (1): 1‐29. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12110 Kwon, Sung‐Wook, and Sylvia Gonzalez‐Gorman. 2019. "Influence of Local Political Institutions on Policy Punctuation in Three Policy Areas." Politics & Policy 47 (2): 300‐325. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12295 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst congressional gridlock, administrative rulemaking is the main pathway for environmental policy making. Scholars have assessed the role of the institutions of government (the president, Congress, and the courts) and key interest groups (i.e., business and environmental interests) in shaping rulemaking outcomes. What is missing from this literature is an assessment of the role of key implementers, state environmental agencies. This research fills this gap by assessing the role and impact of state government agencies in three case studies of rulemaking at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Based on original interviews and a public comment analysis, this research suggests that state agencies play an active and influential role in EPA rulemaking. And, in some cases, state agencies wield more influence than other interest groups. Interviewees argued that this influence stems from these agencies' unique voice as an implementation collaborator. As a result, researchers should incorporate an assessment of the role of these interests to more effectively explain regulatory outcomes at the EPA and potentially across the bureaucracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ahead of the Conference of Parties (COP) 24 where countries will first take stock of climate action post Paris, this paper assesses India's progress on its nationally determined contribution (NDC) targets and future energy plans. We find that, although India is well on track to meet its NDC pledges, these targets were extremely modest given previous context. Furthermore, there is considerable uncertainty around India's energy policy post 2030 and if current plans for energy futures materialise, the Paris Agreement's 2 degrees goal will be almost certainly unachievable. India's role in international climate politics has shifted from obstructionism to leadership particularly following the announcement of withdrawal by the United States from the Paris Agreement, but analysis reveals that India's 'hard' actions on the domestic front are inconsistent with its 'soft' actions in the international climate policy arena. Going forward, India is likely to face increasing calls for stronger mitigation action and we suggest that this gap can be bridged by strengthening the links between India's foreign policy ambitions, international climate commitments, and domestic energy realities. Key policy insights India's NDC pledges on carbon intensity and share of non-fossil fuel capacity are relatively modest given domestic context and offer plenty of room to increase ambition of action. India's 'soft' leadership in global climate policy can be matched by 'hard' commitments by bringing NDC pledges in line with domestic policy realities. There is significant uncertainty around future plans for coal power in India which have the potential to exceed the remaining global carbon budget for 2 degrees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper investigates the landscape of state‐level adaptation planning in the United States. We answer three primary research questions: First, how are states planning for climate change? Second, who are states targeting for climate adaptation? Third, what tools are states using to motivate climate adaptation efforts? We develop and implement a coding scheme using Schneider and Ingram’s Social Construction Framework (SCF) to characterize variation in 2033 individual adaptation goals mentioned in all 14 American states with explicit adaptation plans. We use these data to understand the types of tools used to motivate different actors (governmental, private, nonprofit) to adapt to climate change. We find that the most frequent target of state adaptation planning is the state itself, which provides an opportunity to extend the SCF to a target group often not mentioned in public policy. Specifically, we find that states target themselves with mandates or tools designed to acquire information. Other stakeholders in adaptation are more likely to be the targets of capacity building tools. Private actors are the only population more likely to be targeted by incentives. The project expands the Social Construction Framework to include targets and tools of planning efforts. Practically, our article offers a methodology by which to compare the vastly heterogeneous efforts to adapt to climate change at the subnational level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Which organisations saw their positions on two contentious issues reflected in the Irish climate law of 2015, and what role did advocacy coalitions play in the policy process? These questions are answered drawing theoretically from the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) and by conducting a network analysis of survey data collected from the organisations involved in the national climate policy process. The study finds that several institutionally important or economically powerful organisations, particularly those involved in the agricultural sector, as well as the government parties saw their preferences reflected in the law. This resulted in legislation that excluded binding emission reductions targets, differentiating it from similar laws introduced in other European countries. Organisations in favour of stronger regulation formed a coalition to advocate for their positions, but they largely failed to get their way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The concept of learning has long played a central role in the theories and frameworks used to understand policy processes. Findings described here aim to contribute to the theoretical and methodological understanding of individual learning in the policy process by explicitly examining belief change and belief reinforcement as products of policy learning, measuring both, as well as measuring the absence of either. The objective of this study is to use the lens of the Advocacy Coalition Framework to examine some of the factors that promote and shape policy learning, including policy actors' beliefs and the extent to which policy actors engage in various policy activities within and between belief coalitions. The results indicate that extreme beliefs are associated with belief reinforcement, relative to policy actors with more moderate beliefs, and that collaboration with individuals with differing policy views is associated with belief change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

President Trump has embarked on an ambitious and far-reaching attempt to reshape American environmental policy. In regard to climate change, water quality, and other areas, his administration's actions constitute an attempt to roll back existing environmental protections and torecalibrateAmericanenvironmentalfederalism.Theseactionslargelyrepresentacontinuationof the practice of presidential reliance on the tools of the administrative presidency that has shaped U.S. environmental policy over the past forty years, although the Trump Administration has employed these tools in an especially aggressive fashion. Because changing public policy through administrative means is a time-consuming process that invites legal challenge, the full implications of these efforts will not be known for several years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how piloting programmes in China can promote local policy innovations. By using one of the piloting emission trading schemes (ETS) in Guangdong province as a case study, it is argued that the main features of the piloting experiments, particularly in the climate change domain, are largely different from previous local marketization experiments that dominate the reform period of China. Whereas previous experiments are often characterized as bottom-up or indigenous initiatives with strong patronage relations to the pro-reform politicians at central level, the current piloting programmes are often crafted in a top-down fashion that is often misaligned with local market or corporate interests. Hence, local policy innovations are designed, developed and brokered by the local state officers, in order to bridge this central–local interest gap. As a result, successful implementation of these policy innovations largely depends on local political traditions, bureaucratic culture and perceptions of distinctive development needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has the world’s highest levels of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, and its adoption of optimal measures to address climate change is extremely important. In this article, we assess the performance of various Chinese policies aimed at addressing climate change in terms of cost effectiveness, cost-benefit efficiency, and their contribution to a reduction in emissions with a new single-region model, DEMETER-CCPE. Our analysis shows that the performance of these Chinese policies strongly depends on the principles and indicators used in the evaluation. When climate-specific cost indicators are considered, the mixed policy performs best in terms of cost reduction. When cost-efficiency indicators are used, a single policy performs better to some extent. From the perspective of evaluating the contribution to emissions reduction, the development of non-fossil-fuel-based energy technologies offers the greatest opportunity for reducing emissions in a mixed-policy scenario. Finally, this article study possible ‘burden’ and ‘free-rider’ scenarios in order to explore the effect of different levels of joint actions between China and the rest of the world (ROW) on a performance evaluation of policies to address climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to climate change and its consequences to islands and coastal countries, the relocation of the people living in those vulnerable places has received a lot of attention from policy makers as well as academicians. There have been similar kinds of programs running in Bangladesh since the country's independence in 1971, and people who are landless or victimized due to river bank erosion, cyclones, or floods have been relocated under the umbrella program called 'Guchchagram', i.e., cluster villages. Different ruling parties had used different names for the project due to the financial nature of the project, but none of them have significantly differed from the overall goals and objectives of relocated settlements and the betterment of the landless and extreme event victims. Particularly, this study asks how and to what extent the livelihood of relocated households has changed, and what the potentials and constraints of the relocated settlements are. Based on an empirical study at four Guchchagrams of Gopalganj Sadar Upazila, the study shows that there is a significant improvement in the livelihood conditions of the migrated people, but the locational disadvantages and access to agricultural production, the local employment market, and some of the targeted objectives of the project have not achieved. To some extent, the rehabilitated families have similar risks as they had before; however, available agricultural lands and proper allocation can reduce such livelihood risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central concern in policy studies is understanding how multiple, contending groups in society interact, deliberate, and forge agreements over policy issues. Often, public discourse turns from engagement into impasse, as in the fractured politics of climate policy in the USA. Existing theories are unclear about how such an 'adversarial turn' develops. We theorize that an important aspect of the adversarial turn is the evolution of a group's narrative into what can be understood as an ideology, the formation of which is observable through certain textual-linguistic properties. Analysis 'of' these narrative properties elucidates the role of narrative in fostering (1) coalescence around a group ideology, and (2) group isolation and isolation of ideological coalitions from others' influence. By examining a climate skeptical narrative, we demonstrate how to analyze ideological properties of narrative, and illustrate the role of ideological narratives in galvanizing and, subsequently, isolating groups in society. We end the piece with a reflection on further issues suggested by the narrative analysis, such as the possibility that climate skepticism is founded upon a more 'genetic' meta-narrative that has roots in social issues far removed from climate, which means efforts at better communicating climate change science may not suffice to support action on climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frameworks of environmental regulations are fundamental yet problematic factors in achieving climate mitigation and adaptation policy goals. Recent theoretical arguments claim the value of general legal frameworks to enable experimentation and contextual adaptation of policies. However, empirical research regarding the effects of both general and specific norms in the practice of urban intervention remains limited. In this article we empirically discern how city governments deal with the tension between control and flexibility in the implementation of urban climate change goals. We argue that policies of adaptation/mitigation face two types of implementation problems: non-adaptive implementation and non-implementation. The first stems from an excessively constraining use of rules, while the second derives from a too general and undefined regulatory framework. Analysing two empirical cases in Amsterdam, Netherlands and Boston, MA, USA, we conclude that there are three elements that affect the way actors deal with these deficits: the level of scale at which regulations are established, the degree of land ownership which provides margin of manoeuvre to public authorities, and the sense of political urgency behind mitigation and adaptation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explains the findings of the MC3 Project (Meeting the Climate Change Challenge). This project brought together over 100 researchers, practitioners, civil-society leaders, and policy-makers, led by researchers from Royal Roads University, Simon Fraser University, and the University of British Columbia, with 12 major research partners from the public and private sectors, including the Union of British Columbia municipalities. Researchers conducted a detailed evaluation of 11 leading, yet different, municipalities across the province to identify the leading innovators and innovations on climate action. The case studies revealed the following key drivers of innovation, in order of prominence: the legislative and policy framework, supported by provincially led incentives and tools, access to partnership funding and intermediary support, and framing the issue as critically important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the proposed goal of India to reduce the emissions intensity of its economy, or the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of gross domestic product, by between 20% and 25% by the year 2020. Topics discussed include the country's climate pledge, or Intended Nationally Determined tribution (INDC), per capita emissions, carbon intensity, and annual emissions.

This paper seeks to understand how the UK government's headline climate change targets are translated into action at the local level in the transport sector drawing on the findings of research in two English regions. In doing so, these headline targets are identified as a symbolic meta-policy that results in little action on the ground and which challenges established conceptions of policy implementation. Both the 'meta' and 'symbolic' aspects of the policy offer part of the explanation for the lack of substantive action on the ground. As a meta-policy, the headline targets across government require the elaboration of other policies at other levels such as targets for government departments and local authorities, but these are largely absent, leaving the meta-policy without teeth. Over time, these headline targets have developed into a symbolic policy, serving political goals but having little practical effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) is widely assumed to be a global environmental leader, especially in addressing climate change, though this reputation suffered greatly when European leaders were sidelined during the 2009 United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen. Subsequently, however, the EU has made significant progress in extending its Emission Trading System to the aviation sector, one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and did so not only regionally, but also managed to get it onto the global policy agenda. This contribution investigates the EU's role in shaping the 2013 International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) resolution committing 191 government signatories to developing a global market-based measure to cap international aviation's carbon pollution. While not exactly setting new environmental standards or achieving definitive regulatory success, the case illustrates the agenda-setting capacity of the EU through leveraging its market power and adopting an explicitly extra-territorial rule to induce potential regulatory co-operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In search of an appropriate institutional structure for successful environmental policy, many researchers focus on network governance. And while it provides the flexibility and adaptability needed for climate change initiatives, the paper argues that many networks collaborate too loosely to have the capacity to reach strategic goals or mobilize local players. There is often a disconnect between national policy goals and on-the-ground dynamics. Instead, government should adopt a network perspective which does not eliminate state action, but involves network management institutions at arm’s length of government. As an example for this mode of network governance, the research looks at the Swedish “National Network for Wind Power”, which was initiated by government and is now led by four wind coordinators managing the development of on- and off-shore wind electricity. The paper compares Swedish performance before and after the introduction of the wind network and shows how these government efforts have transformed Sweden from a weak performer to being a frontrunner in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments have struggled to successfully implement large-scale integrated policy approaches, often resulting in policy failure. However, there has been little investigation into why this is the case. This paper links the discourse on policy failure and integrated policy approaches and identifies what aspects of 'integration' cause failure. It argues that programme failure occurs in integrated policy approaches when there are unachievable goals or timelines, poor policy design and/or when the incorrect types of processes are selected. Policy process failure is particularly evident in an integrated policy's implementation where multi-sector and multi-level issues arise, whereas failure in the politics of integrated approaches is found in political gain and blame avoidance of key decision-makers. This framework is then applied to Australia's Oceans Policy demonstrating that it was unable to achieve its original objectives; the layering process of new policy and institutions on established silos was ineffective; and the new institutions did not have the integrative capacity required for successful implementation. The Australian experience reveals that an institutional model that can deal with multiple issues, jurisdictions and sectors holistically is essential if integrative capacity is to be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The worsening effects of human-caused climate change, as well as issues most American view as 'homeland security' (HS) can be seen in the news almost every day. Yet most in the general public and even many in security-related fields do not connect the two arenas, even though climate change, and interrelated resource competition and conflicts that together make up the growing field of environmental security (ES), are increasingly important risk and response variables for homeland security and emergency management. Current climate change effects are already destructive and volatile, but the future projected impacts are likely to be severe and costly to the economic, political, and social health of many nations as well as to a large proportion of the world's population. The focus of this paper is to describe and connect the evolving concepts of environmental security, homeland security, and national security (NS). Definitions and missions for each concept are discussed, consistent with current, even if contested, practice and theory. Better comparative analysis of these unique but intimately connected realms will help advance the development of more comprehensive and sustainable security policy and strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although in recent years great emphasis has been placed on global agreements and national commitments on climate change, ultimately action on mitigation and adaptation must take place at the local level. Many local authorities have to face questions of whether they should develop policies on climate change, and if so, on what evidence should policies be designed and delivered. This paper describes how academic research on the economics of low carbon cities (the 'mini-Stern review') helped create such an evidence base for the Leeds City Region and its constituent local authorities. We describe how the response to the evidence and the pathways to impact were different in the individual local authorities and what this means for our understanding of evidence in local policy making. In terms of Weiss' (Social sciences and modern states: national experiences and theoretical crossroads. Advances in political science, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, ) classification, the study was mainly useful as an argument and idea rather than being used instrumentally. We find that the policy and political context in each authority determines to a large extent whether such an academic study is useable as evidence. The contents and timing of the study need to align with existing policy and/or political agendas: is climate change on the agenda at all, with what priority and how is it framed. We find confirmation of a relationship between the policy problem type and the role of evidence as argument, idea or data. The mini-Stern study itself was just one contribution to wide-ranging processes of informing, convincing, pressurising, etc., not just within the different councils but also within the wider communities. Other contextual factors include composition, agenda and activities of local civil society and the local business community. Finally, it depends on the expertise of policy officers in the councils what use is made of evidence. Making policy takes (much) time, translation and negotiation across levels and sectors. Policy work describes how policy officers bring their diverse forms of knowledge to bear on policy questions; how this work is done is something that is learned from practice rather than from the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is so far the largest emissions trading system in the world. A rigorousex postempirical analysis of the scheme is presented. The effect of the scheme on firms' investment decisions in carbon-reducing technologies is analysed by using detailed firm-level data from Swedish industry. Based on difference-in-difference estimation as well as a before–after difference estimation, the results reveal that the EU ETS has not had a significant effect on firms’ decisions to invest in carbon-mitigating technologies. However, although the EU ETS appears to have no direct effect on investments, it is too early to dismiss the system. Consideration is given to how the EU ETS can realize its potential to become an effective tool in the EU climate and energy policy portfolio. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Amid growing alarm over the rising atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases, increasing attention is being given to ‘geo-engineering’ technologies that could counteract some of the impacts of global warming by either reducing absorption of solar energy (solar radiation management (SRM)) or removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Geo-engineering has the potential to dramatically alter the dynamics of global climate change negotiations because it might cool the climate without constraining fossil fuel use. Some scholars have expressed concern that certain states may be tempted to act unilaterally. This paper assesses the approach that China is likely to adopt towards governance of SRM and the implications this holds for broader international climate negotiations. We survey Chinese public discourse, examine the policy factors that will influence China's position, and assess the likelihood of certain future scenarios. While Chinese climate scientists are keenly aware of the potential benefits of geo-engineering as well as its risks, we find that no significant constituency is currently promoting unilateral implementation of SRM. China will probably play a broadly cooperative role in negotiations toward a multilaterally governed geo-engineering programme but will seek to promote a distinctive developing world perspective that reflects concerns over sovereignty, Western imperialism and maintenance of a strict interpretation of the norm of common but differentiated responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The relatively low level of concern about climate change among Americans has important implications for climate policy. While many studies have examined individual characteristics associated with climate change attitudes, fewer studies have considered the effects of environmental conditions on such attitudes. Here, we use two national samples of American adults to explore the impact of abnormal daily temperatures on levels of concern about climate change. We test the hypotheses that (1) abnormally warm temperatures, and (2) both abnormally warm and abnormally cool temperatures are associated with higher levels of concern. Using a generalized ordinal logit, we find that the quadratic form of deviation from mean temperature on the date of the survey is significantly associated with higher levels of concern, thus supporting the second hypothesis. We discuss several theoretical frameworks that may explain this result including availability bias, mental models, and implicit stimuli, and the implications for climate policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2008 New Zealand ( NZ) changed from a Labour-led to a National-led government, and this resulted in a shift to government's carbon emission mitigation strategy, including the abandonment of the Communities for Climate Protection ( CCP) and the Carbon Neutral Public Service ( CNPS) programs. Using deLeon's seminal model for program termination, the objective of this research is to determine why NZ's newly elected government discontinued these initiatives. This empirical research is investigative and probing, and comprises a series of semi-structured interviews with senior managers responsible for the delivery of the respective program within their organization. The architects of each program are also investigated. In the end, this study finds that while economic constraints and programmatic inefficiencies may have played a contributing role, political ideology is the primary rationale for the termination of the CNPS and the CCP-NZ programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bottom-up and top-down models are used to support climate policies, to identify the options required to meet GHG abatement targets and to evaluate their economic impact. Some studies have shown that the GHG mitigation options provided by economic top-down and technological bottom-up models tend to vary. One reason for this is that these models tend to use different baseline scenarios. The bottom-up TIMES_PT and the top-down computable general equilibrium GEM-E3_PT models are examined using a common baseline scenario to calibrate them, and the extend of their different mitigation options and its relevant to domestic policy making are assessed. Three low-carbon scenarios for Portugal until 2050 are generated, each with different GHG reduction targets. Both models suggest close mitigation options and locate the largest mitigation potential to energy supply. However, the models suggest different mitigation options for the end-use sectors: GEM-E3_PT focuses more on energy efficiency, while TIMES_PT relies on decrease carbon intensity due to a shift to electricity. Although a common baseline scenario cannot be ignored, the models’ inherent characteristics are the main factor for the different outcomes, thereby highlighting different mitigation options. Policy relevance The relevance of modelling tools used to support the design of domestic climate policies is assessed by evaluating the mitigation options suggested by a bottom-up and a top-down model. The different outcomes of each model are significant for climate policy design since each suggest different mitigation options like end-use energy efficiency and the promotion of low-carbon technologies. Policy makers should carefully select the modelling tool used to support their policies. The specific modelling structures of each model make them more appropriate to address certain policy questions than others. Using both modelling approaches for policy support can therefore bring added value and result in more robust climate policy design. Although the results are specific for Portugal, the insights provided by the analysis of both models can be extended to, and used in the climate policy decisions of, other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it is likely that the political–economic coalition required for implementing a federal cap-and-trade programme for GHGs in the US is now sufficiently strong, the structural impediments that have prevented its legislative passage remain impressively durable and can be expected to continue to lay waste to congressional proposals for the foreseeable future. Indeed, given the complex history of environmental policy gridlock in Washington since the early 1980s, any expectations that a cap-and-trade programme could have been realistically achieved through the traditional legislative passage in Congress are fundamentally misplaced. Building on previous research, it is argued that – as with most other forms of environmental policy in the US over the past three decades – a national carbon market is more plausible given alternative policy pathways, which if taken are capable of circumventing the Federal Congress altogether. In particular, the interaction between litigation against the federal government and the ‘rulemaking’ authority possessed by the Executive Branch provides the potential space for the current administration to unilaterally establish a model rule for a national carbon-trading programme. Policy relevance This article aims to contribute to American climate policy debates by re-thinking the policy mechanisms most capable of establishing a national carbon market in the US. By taking into account the array of structural factors that have prevented the legislative passage of such a programme in federal Congress, a range of alternative policy ‘pathways’ is considered that have historically allowed progressive environmental policies to endure in Washington (despite increased Congressional gridlock over the past few decades). Two specific alternative strategies and the relationship between them are assessed: the use of litigation to impose legal obligations on federal agencies to regulate effluents, and the use of executive authority to define the nature and scope of environmental regulation. The administration's current potential to unilaterally develop a model-rule for a cap-and-trade programme under the Clean Air Act is emphasized, and the political implications of such a strategy are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Cap-and-trade has become a key climate policy strategy, in part due to concerns about the political feasibility of carbon taxes. However, federal cap-and-trade legislation remains elusive within North America, and it is increasingly likely that a global carbon market will be composed of a patchwork of regional bottom-up schemes. The challenges faced by the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), the most comprehensive GHG trading system currently being developed in North America, are examined. The WCI has had mixed success and several lessons concerning the political and technical requirements for bottom-up, regional GHG trading are offered. Although substantial administrative progress has been achieved, only two of its original eleven partners will be ready for trading in 2013. Creating a carbon market is more than a technical or political challenge – it is a social process. The WCI experience highlights the importance of the logic of collective action, the need for jurisdictions to see individual benefits, the role of evidence from other policy contexts, and the need for broad agreement about the purpose of policy. These factors can significantly shape the chances of survival for the carbon market even before actual trading begins. Policy relevance An analysis is provided of the political and administrative challenges facing the creation of the Western Climate Initiative, the largest multi-jurisdictional sub-national North American GHG cap and trade system initiated to date. Policy factors for both the coalescence and partial disintegration of the system are discussed for all 11 original partner jurisdictions. Key lessons are highlighted for policy and strategy that may be of use in other bottom-up initiatives of this type: acknowledging the multi-level governance aspects of climate policy (including the need for jurisdictions to see individual benefits), paying attention to the dynamics of collective action, the centrality of broader political and economic discourse in defining interpretations of the opportunities and costs of cap-and-trade, and the need for broad agreement about policy purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Two main drivers shape the global governance of climate change: "climate power" and climate commitment. Climate power refers to the level of influence of certain agents over the climate social outcome at the systemic level. Climate commitment recalls the fact that the logic of global climate governance is also defined by the interaction of reformist and conservative forces, with the former willing to take post-sovereigntist measures to tackle the crisis, and the latter resisting any major changes in the way business is conducted. This article analyses the role of Brazil in global climate governance, considering both climate power and climate commitment. It argues that the country transitioned from a conservative great climate power to a moderate conservative position over the last decade, based on three pillars: reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the adoption of domestic climate policies, and a shift in its international standing on the issue. However, since 2011 the process has stalled and partially reversed. The aim of this article is to address that transformation and explore its perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the attention surrounding local climate protection in the United States is associated with two networks: ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability's Cities for Climate Protection and the U. S. Conference of Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement ( MCPA). However, the impact of these networks on member-city actions has not been clearly established. This paper examines whether, and to what extent, participation in climate networks leads to the implementation of greenhouse gas ( GHG)-reducing policies, above and beyond what would have been done in their absence. To account for the possibility that cities which join climate networks are systematically different from those that do not and control for self-selection induced bias, three statistical techniques-propensity score matching, Heckman full information maximum likelihood, and instrumental variables-are employed to estimate the 'treatment effect' of participation. Results suggest that impact is network specific: ICLEI membership causes small to moderate increases in cities' GHG-relevant activity, whereas the MCPA has no such effect. The characteristics of each network are evaluated in light of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents results from 15 little publicized state and national environmental surveys in the US that used similar questions. Our analysis reveals trends in adult understanding of environmental issues. These trends indicate that many may have difficulty making informed decisions about environmental policy as citizens, voters, and consumers. Some environmental myths are still prevalent in the US public’s understanding of environmental issues. The authors compare data from the National Environmental Education Foundation survey in the US and data from state surveys using the same questions to examine how public knowledge has changed from 1995 to 2008. Environmental myths and how they may affect the public’s perception of environmental topics are discussed. The authors suggest the need for greater consistency in the surveys of environmental knowledge to allow comparison among different studies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A vast economics literature embraces taxation of the carbon content of fossil fuels as the superior policy approach for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, experience around the world suggests that carbon taxes face exceedingly difficult political hurdles. Federal experience in the United States and in Canada confirms this pattern. This article reviews sub-federal policy development among American states and Canadian provinces, a great many of which have pursued climate policy development. With one major exception, explicit carbon taxation appears to remain a political nonstarter. At the same time, states and provinces have been placing indirect carbon prices on fossil fuel use through a wide range of policies. These tend to strategically alter labeling, avoiding the terms of 'tax' and 'carbon' in imposing costs. The article offers a framework for considering such strategies and examines common design features, including direct linkage between cost imposition and fund usage to build political support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainty over climate change prospects has become a key area of the government's environmental policy in China. China has proclaimed a principle of "common but differentiated responsibility," suggesting that developed countries are to accept a greater share of the blame for the unfavorable climate change. At the conferences on climate change in Copenhagen in 2009 and 2010, China succeeded, in general, in making its position stronger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the tight coupling between European climate science and policy. Drawing upon the analytical idiom of co-production it examines how knowledge-making practices are incorporated into European climate policy-making, and more importantly, how EU climate policy has influenced the funding, making and interpretation of useful European climate policy research. The paper identifies a tension between the critical/reflexive ambition built into the co-production idiom, and the more utilitarian interpretation of the term. Whereas the former sets out to expose and interrogate the ontological assumptions underpinning public policy, the latter seeks to be useful by responding to the knowledge needs of societal decision-makers. This tension is analysed through a case study of the integrated research project ADAM (Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies: Supporting European Climate Policy) funded under the 6th Framework Programme of the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policies in the context of global change involve a high degree of uncertainty, as knowledge about future changes and the effectiveness of potential measures is insufficient. Our study set out to investigate how members of the public evaluate policy options that aim at adaptation to climate change, and more specifically, to reduce the risk from flooding and low flows. We explored how hierarchically structured networks of values and beliefs shape public preferences and attitudes towards two different policies, insurance and a sustainable flood management scheme. In particular, we assessed the role of governance-related values such as efficiency, solidarity and sustainability that allow individuals to evaluate a policy option even if its outcomes are highly uncertain. To this end, we conducted a survey among members of the Scottish public (n=1033). Findings from spike models and structural equation modelling suggested that there was general support for both policy measures, with a preference for the sustainable flood management approach. In particular, we found perceived severity of change, trust in government, governance-related values and fundamental values to inform attitudes and willingness to pay (WTP) for policy measures. More specific constructs, such as attitudes, were embedded in contexts of more abstract and situation-transcendent values. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Problem: In the absence of U.S. federal action to address the problem of climate change, a diverse array of nonfederal policy entrepreneurs and climate action planners has produced an impressive body of plans and policies to fight climate change at the regional, state, and local levels. Their actions are highly laudable, but have they actually reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions? Purpose: This article evaluates the work of a group of innovative state-level policy entrepreneurs whose actions were chronicled by Barry Rabe, and a set of 29 state climate action plans systematically analyzed by Stephen Wheeler. It compares states with and without climate policy entrepreneurs and states with and without climate action plans, asks if either plans or entrepreneurs have been successful in reducing CO2 emissions, and identifies the elements within plans that are associated with the greatest reductions. Methods: The analysis uses multiple regression models to explain changes in per capita CO2 emissions attributable to residential, commercial, transportation, and total nonindustrial end users from 1990 to 2007. A package of control variables accounts for political, social, climatic, economic, and urban form factors, while policy variables isolate the effects of climate policy entrepreneurs, climate action planners, and specific policy recommendations within climate action plans. Results and conclusions: State-level climate actions reduce GHG emissions by a measurable but modest amount: about one half metric ton per person per year. This represents 2-3% of the average American's 24-ton annual total GHG emissions. The reduction is small in comparison to the magnitude of the problem, but a substantial tax increase or population shift away from sprawling areas would be necessary to achieve the same reduction. Specific policies I find to be associated with lower emissions include: building efficiency in both residential and commercial sectors, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) policies in the commercial sector, and California's vehicle efficiency standards in the transportation sector. Takeaway for practice: It is encouraging that we can already identify emission reductions related to state climate action. However, the observed reductions remain small com-pared to the scope of the problem. These findings should persuade states without plans to begin the planning process while encouraging states with plans to encourage more entrepreneurship aimed at developing a second generation of policy options for stabilizing our planet's climate with or without federal action. Research support: None. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem: Basing local climate action plans on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventories has become standard practice for communities that want to address the problem of climate change. Communities use GHG emissions inventories to develop policy despite the fact that there has been little theoretical work on the implications of the assumptions embedded within them. Purpose: We identify elements and assumptions in emissions inventories that have important policy implications for climate action plan formulation, aiming to help planners make informed, defensible choices, and to refine future GHG emissions inventory protocols and climate action planning methods. Methods: We conducted a content analysis of 30 city climate action plans selected as a stratified random sample. We collected data on 70 different factors and used summary and trend statements, typologies, and descriptive statistics to link our findings to our research questions. Results and conclusions: Climate action plans obviously vary in many details, but most contain all of the core GHG emissions elements suggested in common protocols. We found GHG emissions inventories to be technically accurate but found their reduction targets to fall short of international targets. We also found exogenous change and uncertainty to be unaccounted for in emissions forecasts and reduction targets. The plans generally do a poor job of linking mitigation actions to reduction targets. Takeaway for practice: GHG emissions inventories supporting climate action planning are reasonably standardized, but documentation of data and assumptions should be improved and GHG reduction targets should be justified. The effect of future changes that are beyond the direct control of the community plan should be accounted for in GHG emissions forecasts and reduction targets. Rapid anticipated population growth should be acknowledged and taken into account, both in GHG emissions forecasts and in setting reduction targets. Effects of mitigation may be difficult to predict reliably, yet can be partly offset by effective monitoring that evaluates progress and changes course when necessary. Research support: None. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a long time before the 'climategate' emails scandal of late 2009 which cast doubt on the propriety of science underpinning the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), attention to climate change science and policy has focused solely upon the truth or falsity of the proposition that human behaviour is responsible for serious global risks from anthropogenic climate change. This article places such propositional concerns in the perspective of a different understanding of the relationships between scientific knowledge and public policy issues from the conventional 'translation' model, in which prior scientific research and understanding is communicated and translated into corresponding policies - or not, if it remains disputed and overly uncertain. Explaining some of the key contingencies and bases for uncertainty in IPCC climate projections and human influences, I show how social and technical analysis of climate science is not about denial of the scientific propositional claims at issue, but about understanding the conditional and essentially ambiguous epistemic character of any such knowledge, however technically sophisticated and robust it may be. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it is entirely plausible that existing scientific representations of climate change and its human causes may understate the risks induced by prevailing social-economic processes rather than exaggerate them. As the article shows, the public meanings given to climate science, and to 'the climate problem', and thus also the public culture which that knowledge is supposed to inform, are themselves already in key respects presumed and (attemptedly) imposed by the science and its framing. This gives rise to perverse effects on public readiness to take informed democratic responsibility for 'the global climate problem', and associated cross-cutting issues which existing scientific framings of public policy erase from view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Satellite services benefit civil society by helping tackle challenges such as climate change, the digital divide, etc. They have the potential to deliver concrete benefits to European society through innovative services supporting economic, societal and environmental policies. Such benefits can trigger increased public support for space in Europe. However, this potential has yet to be achieved. This paper argues that technological bias, the diversity of interests and initiatives among stakeholders and their individual actions do not always serve their collective objective to ensure wide diffusion of satellite services. It draws on theories of diffusion of innovation and on its authors'' participatory work with the space and the user communities and at their interface in an effort to help diffuse satellite services within civil society. One of the major causes of insufficient service diffusion is the weakness of the interface between the space and user communities; some of factors that currently contribute to this state of affairs are the space community''s over-reliance on publicly financed, technical demonstration projects as solutions to service diffusion; insufficient coordination by public authorities of innovation policies and programmes with other public policies and objectives; and an insufficient integration of satellite services within users'' culture, traditional tools and services. The discussion allows for conclusions to be drawn on how the system of stakeholders could function better in order for satellite services to be successfully diffused in Europe. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article offers information on the developments to the carbon and climate law in the U.S. It notes that the only solid outcome on the 14th Conference of the Parties (COP14) to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in Poznan, Poland, is the adaptation fund. Moreover, the European Council made agreement to incorporate climate and energy package on December 12, 2008.

How genuine is the Conservative party's rediscovery of the environment? Would a Conservative government led by David Cameron implement a wide-ranging and progressive environmental policy? This article explores why Cameron has embraced the environment so enthusiastically when Conservative governments have had a poor record of environmental protection and the Conservative party has traditionally shown little interest in the issue. It assesses the impact of Cameron's strategy both on his own party and on the wider world of environmental politics and it evaluates the continuing commitment of the Conservatives to the issue by assessing what kind of policies a future Conservative government might implement. Although Cameron remains committed to the issue and he has already had a positive impact on Labour government policy, he has not yet convinced his party or its supporters, so a future Conservative government would probably represent continuity rather than significant change in environmental policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fear-inducing representations of climate change are widely employed in the public domain. However, there is a lack of clarity in the literature about the impacts that fearful messages in climate change communications have on people's senses of engagement with the issue and associated implications for public engagement strategies. Some literature suggests that using fearful representations of climate change may be counterproductive. The authors explore this assertion in the context of two empirical studies that investigated the role of visual, and iconic, representations of climate change for public engagement respectively. Results demonstrate that although such representations have much potential for attracting people's attention to climate change, fear is generally an ineffective tool for motivating genuine personal engagement. Nonthreatening imagery and icons that link to individuals' everyday emotions and concerns in the context of this macro-environmental issue tend to be the most engaging. Recommendations for constructively engaging individuals with climate change are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]