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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]

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]

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]

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]

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 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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Various governments around the world are in the process of developing long-term climate change mitigation strategies. The British Labour government has been particularly active. In March 2007 it published a draft Climate Change Bill which provides a new legal framework designed to underpin efforts to mitigate climate change. Following public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny, a revised Bill was introduced into Parliament in November 2007; the new legislation is expected to become law during 2008. The key features of the Bill include a statutory target of reducing targeted greenhouse gas emissions by at least 60 percent by 2050, the establishment of a new system of five-yearly 'carbon budgets' (set at least 15 years ahead), the creation of a powerful new expert Committee on Climate Change to advise, review and report on crucial climate change issues, and additional powers enabling governments to introduce new trading schemes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This article assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the Climate Change Bill and considers whether similar legislation should be adopted in other developed countries, such as New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate change issue faces a big challenge, perhaps the biggest challenge of all ç politics. Pakistan has taken many noticeable steps in relation to climate change: (1) it is the only country in which the Prime Minister is heading an inter-ministerial task force on climate change, (2) it is the first developing country to establish a specialized, self-financed scientific centre to research the impact of climate change, and (3) it is the lead country to earmark budgetary funds for a national carbon sequestration programme. Pakistan, together with many developing countries, has much to offer the climate change issues. The author proposes five approaches to build consensus among climate policy negotiators: (1) reinforcing the polluter pays principle and ‘common but differentiated responsibility’, (2) active partnership by developing countries, (3) recognizing the voluntary actions taken by developing countries, (4) reinforcing the issue of adaptation, and (5) considering the option of equal per capita entitlements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a comprehensive framework for analyzing problems of long-term environmental policy that address future long-range climatic changes. The policy considerations framework to be discussed consists of a sequence of discrete categories. The point of departure, Category 1, contains the options for affecting the production of carbon dioxide. The framework itself entails no necessary presumption that the less carbon dioxide the better. Category 2 is removal and Category 3 consists of policies for modifying climate and weather. Finally, Category 5 comprises all the policies and actions taken in consequence of anticipated or experienced climate change. There are two subdivisions in Category 1: energy and land use. Within those subdivisions, energy options can be broken down into three classes: reduced energy, reduced fossil fuels, and less carbon-intensive fossil fuels. Both removal and production of carbon dioxide affect the global inventory. The incentives for removal are therefore nonexistent for the individual, the firm or the small nation as long as significant cost is involved. The costs fall entirely on whoever undertakes removal; the benefits are shared indiscriminately. In the third category, the common distinction is between weather and climate. Both include the same descriptive components. Climate differs from weather in describing not a state but a pattern, including seasonal change. In Category 4, adapting to a change in climate is often thought of as an alternative to preventing it. For reasons that are often implicit prevention is usually the preferred alternative.

This article features the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a panel created to consider climate-change at the policy level. The panel agreed to establish working groups that would identify and work to reduce scientific uncertainties, examine social and economic impacts, and weigh possible response strategies. The working groups will coordinate and focus national research programs and ensure the availability of needed resources. These groups will prepare interim reports on their work by late 1990--in time for consideration by the Second World Climate Conference--and present shortly thereafter a more fully considered evaluation to the United Nations General Assembly. All sources of greenhouse gas emissions must be evaluated. Cross-cutting issues that will arise and need to be addressed in each of these areas include population, land use, water resources, and the implementation of mechanisms for various response options. Much needs to be done soon to ensure an appropriate, global response to what may be our greatest environmental challenge. Much work is already under way in government laboratories, universities, and industry in the U.S. and abroad. The IPCC provides a badly needed international framework for focusing that work, identifying what else can and should be done, and encouraging governments to make resources available when, as, and where they are needed.