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Protected and conserved areas (PCAs) are key ecosystem management tools for conserving biodiversity and sustaining ecosystem services and social cobenefits. As countries adopt a 30% target for protection of land and sea under the Global Biodiversity Framework of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, a critical question emerging is, which 30%? A risk‐based answer to this question is that the 30% that returns the greatest reductions in risks of species extinction and ecosystem collapse should be protected. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List protocols provide practical methods for assessing these risks. All species, including humans, depend on the integrity of ecosystems for their well‐being and survival. Africa is strategically important for ecosystem management due to convergence of high ecosystem diversity, intense pressures, and high levels of human dependency on nature. We reviewed the outcomes (e.g., applications of ecosystem red‐list assessments to protected‐area design, conservation planning, and management) of a symposium at the inaugural African Protected Areas Congress convened to discuss roles of the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems in the design and management of PCAs. Recent progress was made in ecosystem assessment, with 920 ecosystem types assessed against the IUCN Red List criteria across 21 countries. Although these ecosystems spanned a diversity of environments across the continent, the greatest thematic gaps were for freshwater, marine, and subterranean realms, and large geographic gaps existed in North Africa and parts of West and East Africa. Assessment projects were implemented by a diverse community of government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and researchers. The assessments have influenced policy and management by informing extensions to and management of formal protected area networks supporting decision‐making for sustainable development, and informing ecosystem conservation and threat abatement within boundaries of PCAs and in surrounding landscapes and seascapes. We recommend further integration of risk assessments in environmental policy and enhanced investment in ecosystem red‐list assessment to fill current gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When advocating for policy change, coalitions rely on various elements and strategies of policy narratives, including emotions. However, past research on the Narrative Policy Framework, and more broadly on the policy process, has largely ignored the role of emotions. This paper argues that emotions, such as anger and fear, are central to how coalitions advocate for policy change. It explores the role of anger and fear in policy narratives by examining the oral testimony (n = 474) given over four legislative committee hearings in March 2019 concerning Colorado Senate Bill 19‐181. This bill changed the mission of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to prioritize protecting the environment and public health over oil and gas development. This research finds the coalition that successfully supported the bill used anger towards the oil and gas industry, while those that opposed the bill relied more on fear of the uncertain consequences of the bill. It also finds the coalition that opposed the bill relied on self‐characterization as heroes and victims, which was a failed strategy. The implications for this research on the Narrative Policy Framework and, more broadly, for the policy process and advocacy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia has a serious problem of environmental pollution. As a party to the Paris Agreement, Russia is pivotal in participating in and advancing the global environmental governance agenda. By presenting and analyzing the main environmental policies enacted by the Russian Government after the Paris Agreement, this paper found the following new features of Russian environmental policy: Developing a new ecological concept of harmony between human and nature; Restructuring administrative institutions and strengthen the common responsibilities of environmental policy subjects such as enterprises, social groups, and the public; Strengthening the modern management of natural resources; Focusing on developing other policies that match environmental policies; Attaching importance to the construction of federal nature reserves and national parks. This paper has some enlightenment on Sino-Russian environment protection co‐ operation: Strengthening exchanges and mutual learning between China and Russia in green and low-carbon publicity and education; Learning from the development and management experience of Russian natural resources and nature reserves to consolidate and improve carbon sink capacity; Deepening Sino-Russian cooperation in the field of low carbon energy transition; Expanding Sino-Russian cooperation in the field of green finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This policy paper uses the Eightfold Path method developed by Bardach and Patashnik to study the problem that is the lack of Maghrebian trans‐boundary cooperation on the environment. It argues that political conflict has been allowed to obstruct a field that should remain nonpolitical. The paper concludes with policy recommendations intended to generate debate among decision makers and lead to more effective water management policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy conflicts are ubiquitous in many countries. Yet research on policy conflict is typically based on cases in western, democratic countries. As a result, little is known about the characteristics of policy conflicts in non‐western countries, such as China, or how these characteristics compare to western contexts. The Policy Conflict Framework (PCF) was recently developed to help scholars identify, diagnose, and compare policy conflict characteristics. This research uses the PCF to guide a comparative analysis of the nature of policy conflicts in China and the United States. With interview data on policy actors from Chongqing, China and Colorado, USA, we present the findings by comparing the differences and similarities of policy conflicts in the two countries around shale oil and gas development. We conclude with the strengths and limitations of this comparative study of policy conflicts in China and other national contexts, along with recommendations for conducting PCF research in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do presidential climate change narratives increase related congressional attention in the United States? Narrative theory says since narratives leverage cognitive heuristics, they should focus policy‐making attention in institutions more efficiently than non‐narrative statements. This study identifies and tests climate change statements and narratives, including those focused on solutions, or “stories of hope,” and those focused on problems and victims, “stories of fear,” for relationships with congressional attention using time series analysis. Findings suggest a relationship between narrative and hearings, but not for non‐narrative statements and hearings. Furthermore, while narratives are related to hearings generally, stories of fear have larger effects, but only in conditions of single party control of the US Presidency and Congress. This analysis supports theory about narratives and institutional influence and offers the additional concept of stories of fear and hope as impactful on political institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the European Union's main instrument for agricultural planning, with a new reform approved for 2023–2027. The CAP intends to align with the European Green Deal (EGD), a set of policy initiatives underpinning sustainable development and climate neutrality in the European Union (EU), but several flaws cast doubts about the compatibility of the objectives of these 2 policies. We reviewed recent literature on the potential of CAP environmental objectives for integration with the EGD: protection of biodiversity, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable management of natural resources. The CAP lacks appropriate planning measures, furthering instead risks to biodiversity and ecosystem services driven by landscape and biotic homogenization. Funding allocation mechanisms are not tailored to mitigate agricultural emissions, decreasing the efficiency of climate mitigation actions. The legislation subsidies farmers making extensive use of synthetic inputs without adequately supporting organic production, hindering the transition toward sustainable practices. We recommend proper control mechanisms be introduced in CAP Strategic Plans from each member state to ensure the EU is set on a sustainable production and consumption path. These include proportional assignment of funds to each CAP objective, quantitative targets to set goals and evidence‐based interventions, and relevant indicators to facilitate effective monitoring of environmental performance. Both the CAP and the EGD should maintain ambitious environmental commitments in the face of crisis to avoid further degradation of the natural resources on which production systems stand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper expands the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) by employing an exploratory case study approach to examine the construction of narratives temporally. A large‐N Twitter dataset concerning the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase‐Escalante monuments controversy is utilized to examine the question: how does the use of narrative strategies change over time? Through the application of change‐point analysis, we determine time points of significant shifts towards use of the devil‐angel shift, scope of the conflict, and causal mechanism strategies. Overall, we find that organizations do not vary their use of narrative strategies over the course of a policy conflict but instead demonstrate discrete changes in response to certain policy events. Based on our findings, we conclude with suggestions for refining and expanding NPF hypotheses. Specifically, we recommend a more contextual analysis of shifts in narrative strategy use in response to specific events over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource allocation efficiency is one of the most important themes of economic research, so research on environmental policy and resource allocation is an important aspect to evaluate the economic effects of environmental policies. This paper first briefly reviews the research context of the theory of resource reallocation and resource misallocation and then analyzes the conceptual implications and accounting methods of resource reallocation and resource misallocation. Secondly, this paper takes the theoretical assumptions and mechanisms of different models as the main line, systematically sorts out the relevant literature on the impact of environmental policies on resource reallocation and resource misallocation, summarizes and reviews relevant theoretical and empirical research, and puts forward the shortcomings of the research and future direction of expansion. Finally, this paper makes a brief comment on the research status of China’ s environmental policies and resource allocation and puts forward their research prospect. This paper finds that: ① From the perspective of resource reallocation, environmental policies affect the reallocation of resources across firms or within firms by changing the entry and exit conditions, inhibiting the degree of product market competition, and changing product mix. By distorting factor prices, these policies lead to the deviation of the equilibrium allocation of factors from the optimal allocation of firms, thereby causing resource misallocation. ② The conclusions on how the initial distortion affects the resource reallocation effect of environmental policies, or whether environmental policies can mitigate the resource misallocation caused by the initial distortion, differ de⁃ pending on the form of the initial distortion. ③ The existing literature on environmental policies and resource allocation is insufficient in terms of research perspectives, research methods, and research scenarios, and the research conclusions on the impact of environmental policies on resource allocation efficiency usually depend on the relevant assumptions and research scenarios of benchmark models. The theoretical analysis results and the degree of influence under different frameworks of benchmark models are different. This paper believes that, based on the Chinese scenario, theoretical breakthroughs in the measurement of the micro-mechanisms and effects of environmental policies affecting resource allocation, environmental policies and industrial transformation and upgrading, environmental policies and resource space mismatches, etc., may be a marginal contribution of China’ s research on development economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quest for answers to global policy changes has engaged many a policy researcher's agenda. This has led to the adoption and application of various theoretical perspectives in a bid to explain the complex policy change process for better understanding. However, the highly contested reasons for policy change underpinned by context‐specific variables in the extant literature demand more empirically supported studies. This article responds by adopting the multiple streams framework (MSF) to explain and deepen understanding of why policies change in a developing African country, specifically Ghana, with the forest and wildlife policy (FWP) as a case study. Adopting a qualitative case study design, the study empirically supports the MSF assumption that the effective coupling of the three streams of problem, policy, and politics through a window of opportunity was crucial in Ghana's FWP change in 2012. This study attempts to balance practice and theory. Related Articles: Brant, Hanna K., Nathan Myers, and Katherine L. Runge. 2017. "Promotion, Protection, and Entrepreneurship: Stakeholder Participation and Policy Change in the 21st Century Cures Initiative." Politics & Policy 45(3): 372–404. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12201. Dunning, Kelly Heber. 2021. "Unlikely Conservation Policy Making in a Polarized Congress: A Multiple Streams Analysis of 'America's Most Successful Conservation Program.'" Politics & Policy 50: 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12448. Tanaka, Yugo, Andrew Chapman, Tetsuo Tezuka, and Shigeki Sakurai. 2020. "Multiple Streams and Power Sector Policy Change: Evidence from the Feed‐in Tariff Policy Process in Japan." Politics & Policy 48(3): 464–89. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12357. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have used the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) to explain public opinion on a variety of policy issues and across venues. Recent work in the NPF has expanded the application of the framework beyond textual formats to accommodate policy narratives that are visual in nature. This article asks whether individuals respond differently to visual versus text‐based narratives. The research argues that visuals are more easily understood, dramatic, and memorable than text, suggesting that visual narratives may have a greater influence on policy attitudes. I explore these possibilities using Twitter narratives related to the Dakota Access Pipeline in the United States. Exposure to visual narratives significantly increased perception of issue importance, but contrary to expectations, visual narratives were no more effective at enhancing information recall, shifting attitudes, and encouraging activism than textual narratives. The article discusses possible reasons for these findings, the implications for narrative persuasion, and suggestions for future avenues of research. Related Articles: Chang, Katherine T., and Elizabeth A. Koebele. 2020. "What Drives Coalitions' Narrative Strategy? Exploring Policy Narratives around School Choice." Politics & Policy 48(4): 618–57. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12367. Crow, Deserai A., Lydia A. Lawhon, John Berggren, Juhi Huda, Elizabeth Koebele, and Adrianne Kroepsch. 2017. "A Narrative Policy Framework Analysis of Wildfire Policy Discussions in Two Colorado Communities." Politics & Policy 45(4): 626–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12207. Shanahan, Elizabeth A., Mark K. McBeth, and Paul L. Hathaway. 2011. "Narrative Policy Framework: The Influence of Media Policy Narrative on Public Opinion." Politics & Policy 39(3): 373–400. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2011.00295.x. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the panel data of 204 prefecture-level cities in China from 2004 to 2019, this paper used the double-difference method to study the impact of ecological civilization demonstration area policy on ecological efficiency with the help of“quasi-natural natural experiment”from ecological civilization demonstration area. Results showed as follow.（1）Overall, the implementation of ecological civilization demonstration area policy has significantly promoted the improvement of ecological efficiency. At the same time, various robustness tests such as excluding the influence of other policies, counterfactual testing, replacing sample data, and propensity score matching-based difference-in-difference（PSM-DID）were carried out to ensure the reliability of the results.（2）Heterogeneity analysis showed that ecological civilization demonstration area policy had a more significantly effect on the improvement of ecological efficiency in the large cities and cities in eastern and central regions.（3）Mechanism analysis showed that ecological civilization demonstration area policy can improve the ecological efficiency of cities by driving technological innovation and optimizing industrial structure. Accordingly, it is proposed to further summarize the effective practices of the ecological civilization demonstration area policy. And a combination of policies should be carried out based on the consideration of heterogeneity factors. In addition, it is also necessary to focus on transforming and upgrading advantageous industries and stimulating innovation capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a systematic review of case studies of mangrove governance, we addressed the following research question: What is the role of the eight governance principles defined by Lockwood et al. (2010) across top-down, bottom-up, and comanagement governance structures in mangrove socioecological systems? Historically, top-down governance (i.e., governance by the state) has been most common, illustrated by the fact that mangrove conservation commonly occurs on local to international policy agendas (Friess et al., 2018). We explored only mangrove governance examples that have been published in the peer-reviewed literature, which is of course a small subset of all mangrove governance worldwide. Keywords: comanagement; community-based natural resource management (CBNRM); decentralized governance; environmental policy; social-ecological systems; wetland; co-manejo; gestión descentralizada; humedal; manejo comunitario de los recursos naturales (MCRN); políticas ambientales; sistemas socio-ecológicos; ; ; (CBNRM); ; ; EN comanagement community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) decentralized governance environmental policy social-ecological systems wetland co-manejo gestión descentralizada humedal manejo comunitario de los recursos naturales (MCRN) políticas ambientales sistemas socio-ecológicos (CBNRM) 1 15 15 03/02/22 20220201 NES 220201 INTRODUCTION Mangrove forests inhabit tropical and subtropical coastlines and are globally important yet threatened ecosystems. [Extracted from the article]

Knowledge on environmental disasters and legislation is limited. I narrow this knowledge gap by examining the relationship between environmental accidents and climate legislation in the People's Republic of China. I offer an account of local environmental accidents and local environmental legislation and focus on political centralization to understand bill submission and bill enactment in local climate legislation in China. I built a unique provincial panel dataset for the period of 1997–2014 (N = 527) for the data analysis and found that environmental accidents are correlated with local climate legislation. I also discuss how local government leaders make rational choices under the incentive system in the Chinese bureaucracy in the wake of environmental accidents. Related Articles: Brogan, Michael James. 2017. "Evaluating Risk and Natural Gas Pipeline Safety." Politics & Policy 45(4): 657–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12211 Liu, Zezhao, and Zhengwei Zhu. 2021. "China's Pathway to Domestic Emergency Management: Unpacking the Characteristics in System Evolution." Politics & Policy 49(3): 619–50. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12407 Neill, Katharine A., and John C. Morris. 2012. "A Tangled Web of Principals and Agents: Examining the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill through a Principal–Agent Lens." Politics & Policy 40(4): 629–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2012.00371.x [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), nicknamed "America's most successful conservation program," was permanently reauthorized during the polarized Trump administration period in 2019. This victory for conservation came during an unlikely moment. How did bipartisan conservation policy pass despite the polarization of Congress during the Trump years? In this article, I use the Multiple Streams Framework to provide insights into the LWCF's reauthorization. Focusing on the problem stream, this research identifies messaging that transcends the partisan divide and appeals to broad American values. Analysis of the messages of policy entrepreneurs found that, regardless of political party, shared messages focus on the enduring legacy of the LWCF, its economic impacts, its symbolic weight, and its use of private dollars. The wider significance of this research is better understanding decision‐making contexts with surprising common messaging in the problem stream between otherwise opposing sides of the partisan divide. Related Articles: Angervil, Gilvert. 2021. "A Comprehensive Application of Kingdon's Multiple Streams Framework: An Analysis of the Obama Administration's No Child Left Behind Waiver Policy." Politics & Policy 49(5): 980–1020. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12432 Gershtenson, Joseph, Brian W. Smith, and William R. Mangun. 2006. "Friends of the Earth? Partisanship, Party Control of Congress, and Environmental Legislation in Congress." Politics & Policy 34(1): 66–92. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2006.00004.x Rawat, Pragati, and John Charles Morris. 2016. "Kingdon's 'Streams' Model at Thirty: Still Relevant in the 21st Century?" Politics & Policy 44(4): 608–38. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12168 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do social identities contribute to the formation of coalitions in a policy subsystem? Social identities help to understand the bundling of resources and common strategies for action. Thus, we argue that identification with a group and across groups discursively results in the formulation of shared and competing storylines. As coalitions are characterized by some kind of sameness of their actors which results in shared storylines, we thereby postulate that the link between storylines and social identities provides added value to the explanation of coalition formation. We test whether shared storylines can be traced back to social identities in the different discursive periods of traffic development on a local level in Germany. A media analysis of 110 articles and 14 interviews shows that the assignment of certain group characteristics is discursively confirmed, renegotiated, or rejected. Social identities, therefore, matter for coalition formation. Related Articles: Chang, Katherine T., and Elizabeth A. Koebele. 2020. "What Drives Coalitions' Narrative Strategy? Exploring Policy Narratives around School Choice." Politics & Policy 48 (4): 618‐657. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12367 Shanahan, Elizabeth A., Mark K. McBeth, and Paul L. Hathaway. 2011. "Narrative Policy Framework: The Influence of Media Policy Narrative on Public Opinion." Politics & Policy 39 (3): 373‐400. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2011.00295.x Vercesi, Michelangelo. 2016. "Coalition Politics and Inter‐Party Conflict Management: A Theoretical Framework." Politics & Policy 44 (2): 168‐219. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12154 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Networks are an important part of the environmental policy process as they influence the ability of actors to synthesize information and learn to manage complex risks. According to the Advocacy Coalition Framework, the dynamics of policy network formation lead to structures exhibiting belief‐oriented segregation—that is, a high correspondence between shared beliefs and policy‐relevant interactions. These structures may be produced through at least two pathways: belief homophily, where actors actively seek out connections with others sharing their belief system, and policy‐oriented learning, where connected actors become more similar in their beliefs. The cross‐sectional design of much policy research does not allow an examination of these potentially complementary forces that shape belief systems and networks. These dynamics are studied using data on policy beliefs and networking in the U.S. environmental risk policy subsystem across two time periods, 1985 and 2000 (N = 223). Results indicate strong homophily effects, but relatively weak learning effects in the evolution of this policy network. This study helps pave the way for additional research on the dynamics shaping policy networks and beliefs, and helps to clarify the differences between individual versus organizational contributions to policy network evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural environmental issues are receiving more and more attention from all walks of life, and rural environmental governance is vital to rural rejuvenation. Based on the consideration of heterogeneity and the theory of institutional economics to build a decisionmaking framework for farmers' environmental behaviors under the pressure of environmental policy regulation, this paper analyzed the logical mechanism of environmental policy and farmers' environmental behaviors from the perspective of games. And the micro-survey data of farmers in Hubei, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces were used to empirically test the relationship between environmental policies and farmers' environmental behaviors. The research results showed that environmental policies could promote rural households to participate in rural environmental governance, but the positive impact of environmental policies would only gradually emerge when the household income reached a certain level, and there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between the intensity of environmental policies and farmers' environmental behaviors. Relatively speaking, the restrictive effect of environmental administrative policies on farmers 'environmental behaviors was stronger than the incentive effect of environmental economic policies on farmers 'environmental behaviors. For farmers in areas with higher levels of economic development - it was better to use environmental administrative policies to restrain farmers 'environmental behaviors than to use economic policies to encourage farmers. For different types of farmers, environmental policies played a better role more able in encouraging large-scale households to participate in rural environmental governance. Small-scale farmers would significantly weaken the impact of environmental policies on farmers' environmental behaviors. In addition, environmental administrative policies and environmental economic policies played a mutually regulating role, i, e., environmental economic policies could help strengthen the restraining effect of environmental administrative policies - and the implementation of environmental administrative policies was also conducive to strengthening the incentive effect of environmental economic policies. Based on this, it is necessary to relax the environmental administrative control on small-scale farmers and lowincome farmers. It is also necessary to strengthen the restrictive effect of environmental administrative policies on large-scale households and high-income groups. Related supporting measures should be further improved to make up for the shortcomings of a single policy - and a virtuous circle should be formed for the mutual promotion of administrative and economic policies in order to improve the effectiveness of rural environmental governance. [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]

Framing has long been a central construct in scholarship on the role of rhetoric and discourse in the policy process. Research on policy framing and identity thus far has neglected the role of place‐based identity, focusing instead on identity constructs such as race, class, gender, and ethnicity. Through a mixed methods analysis of transcripts of City Council meetings in Philadelphia from 2007 to 2017, we analyze how policy makers, local interest groups, and national/regional interest groups employ place‐based framing to define, explain, and propose solutions to environmental problems. We contrast local place‐based frames with more abstract global frames that center arguments for policy change on the national or global implications of environmental problems. Our results reveal that place‐based framing is a dominant mode of discourse in Philadelphia environmental policy discussions and that actors may employ frames strategically so as to appeal to place‐based identities and to further political goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assesses the direct, indirect, and total impacts of political partisanship on state‐level utilities' investment in energy efficiency. This subject is of utmost importance because energy efficiency improvement has become a linchpin in worldwide efforts to combat climate change and other environmental challenges. Analysis of data on 51 electric utilities nested within 31 U.S. states indicates that political partisanship influences utilities' energy efficiency policies. There is strong evidence that electric utilities in states dominated by the Republican Party are less likely to invest in energy efficiency than those in states governed by the Democratic Party. This finding suggests that political partisanship may be shaping the policy and regulatory frameworks put in place by state governments to incentivize or compel the participation of private‐sector entities' in environmental management and/or resource conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The policy implementation gap in the field of environment has attracted much attention. An analysis of the existing literature has found that the gap was a result from some unreasonable institutional arrangements. However, local governments' environmental policy implementation behaviors are not completely consistent with the research. Given the unchanged nature of the existing institutions that restrict the local governments' implementation enthusiasm, their implementation behaviors are not continuously depressed, but fluctuate from time to time. In other words, the implementation gap of environmental policies does not always exist. Based on the signaling theory, this paper explored the causes of the 'time-varying gap', trying to supplement the existing literature, and sought possible ways to reduce or eliminate the gap. This paper studied the statistics of environmental signals transmitted by the Chinese central government through documents (394 copies) and various media outlets from 2000 to 2015 and coded 26 items from the dimensions of credibility/reliability, powerfulness and transparency according to the signaling theory, and constructed the balanced panel data of central environmental signals and 31 provincial governments' environmental regulation behaviors in China's mainland from 2000 to 2015. The results of the regression analysis showed that the central government's environmental signal was the source of local governments' environmental regulation behaviors; the credibility, powerfulness and transparency of the documents could significantly affect the environmental regulation behaviors of the local governments. Therefore, in order to reduce the environmental policy implementation gap, the central government signals, especially the document signals, should be used more effectively in practice. It is of great importance to strengthen the credibility, intensity and clarity of the documents, with a focus on the issuance of documents with small quantity but high quality, and a focus on the use of the clarity attribute, so as to better mobilize the enthusiasm of local governments in environmental governance. This paper not only supplements the literature on the theme of environmental policy implementation gap, but also overcomes the limitations of the existing environmental governance literature which pays too much attention to the insufficient implementation of environmental policies in China, thus extending the research vision to the theme of maintaining policy compliance, and providing a low-cost method for the effective stimulation of the local governments' environmental governance behaviors under the current institutional arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This social normalization of public issues may assist government policy and influence the social views, practices, and behaviors that adopt the policy (Surel [57]). This influence on social norms not only influence our daily practices, but can also influence government policy (Surel [57]) by creating a legitimacy capital for governments to pursue new solutions (Hanberger [28]). First, historical timelines not only reduce psychological uncertainty on whether the intended solutions might work, but also increase public and government confidence in the value of the policy investment. Hence, historical storylines are useful tools for government when seeking public support or stakeholder education, both being key to legitimizing government action (Dryzek et al. [16]). [Extracted from the article]

Shared ways of thinking in Brazil about the science-practice interface in ecology and conservation We aimed to identify and describe viewpoints on how the science-practice interface should work in order to improve conservation decisions by interviewing relevant actors, both scientists (ecologists or conservation scientists) and decision makers (who rely on basic and conservation-oriented ecological knowledge to make decisions). Interactive partners thought scientists had much to learn from decision makers (e.g., viability of potential actions, administrative and political constraints) and decision makers could learn from scientists how science contributes to informed decisions. Scientists in this group had diverse levels of productivity and engagement with practice, but decision makers had engaged in the last 5 years more directly with science than decision makers from other groups (Supporting Information). Finally, although some of our results suggest negative attitudes between scientists and decision makers (e.g., detached producers criticized decision makers for misinterpreting scientific knowledge), there was general agreement that addressing cultural differences is important for linking science and practice effectively. [Extracted from the article]

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]

Do elections affect legislators' voting patterns? We investigate this question in the context of environmental policy in the U.S. Congress. We theorize that since the general public is generally in favor of legislation protecting the environment, legislators have an incentive to favor the public over industry and vote for pro‐environment legislation at election time. The argument is supported by analyses of data on environmental roll call votes for the U.S. Congress from 1970 to 2013 where we estimate the likelihood of casting a pro‐environment vote as a function of the time to an election. While Democrats are generally more likely to cast a pro‐environment vote before an election, this effect is much stronger for Republicans when the legislator won the previous election by a thinner margin. The election effect is maximized for candidates receiving substantial campaign contributions from the (anti‐environment) oil and gas industry. Analysis of Twitter data confirms that Congressmembers make pro‐environmental statements and highlight their roll call voting behavior during the election season. These results show that legislators do strategically adjust their voting behavior to favor the public immediate prior to an election. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecotourism is developing rapidly in biodiversity hotspots worldwide, but there is limited and mixed empirical evidence that ecotourism achieves positive biodiversity outcomes. We assessed whether ecotourism influenced forest loss rates and trajectories from 2000 to 2017 in Himalayan temperate forests. We compared forest loss in 15 ecotourism hubs with nonecotourism areas in 4 Himalayan countries. We used matching statistics to control for local‐level determinants of forest loss, for example, population density, market access, and topography. None of the ecotourism hubs was free of forest loss, and we found limited evidence that forest‐loss trajectories in ecotourism hubs were different from those in nonecotourism areas. In Nepal and Bhutan, differences in forest loss rates between ecotourism hubs and matched nonecotourism areas did not differ significantly, and the magnitude of the estimated effect was small. In India, where overall forest loss rates were the lowest of any country in our analysis, forest loss rates were higher in ecotourism hubs than in matched nonecotourism areas. In contrast, in China, where overall forest loss rates were highest, forest loss rates were lower in ecotourism hubs than where there was no ecotourism. Our results suggest that the success of ecotourism as a forest conservation strategy, as it is currently practiced in the Himalaya, is context dependent. In a region with high deforestation pressures, ecotourism may be a relatively environmentally friendly form of economic development relative to other development strategies. However, ecotourism may stimulate forest loss in regions where deforestation rates are low. Article impact statement: Whether ecotourism protects forests is context dependent, and an important factor is the deforestation pressure overall on the landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving coexistence between large carnivores and humans in human‐dominated landscapes (HDLs) is a key challenge for societies globally. This challenge cannot be adequately met with the current sectoral approaches to HDL governance and an academic community largely dominated by disciplinary sectors. Academia (universities and other research institutions and organizations) should take a more active role in embracing societal challenges around conservation of large carnivores in HDLs by facilitating cross‐sectoral cooperation to mainstream coexistence of humans and large carnivores. Drawing on lessons from populated regions of Europe, Asia, and South America with substantial densities of large carnivores, we suggest academia should better embrace the principles and methods of sustainability sciences and create institutional spaces for the implementation of transdisciplinary curricula and projects; reflect on research approaches (i.e., disciplinary, interdisciplinary, or transdisciplinary) they apply and how their outcomes could aid leveraging institutional transformations for mainstreaming; and engage with various institutions and stakeholder groups to create novel institutional structures that can respond to multiple challenges of HDL management and human–large carnivore coexistence. Success in mainstreaming this coexistence in HDL will rest on the ability to think and act cooperatively. Such a conservation achievement, if realized, stands to have far‐reaching benefits for people and biodiversity. Article impact statement: Mainstreaming coexistence of humans and large carnivores in human‐dominated landscapes requires cross‐sectoral, institutional collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the second half of the twentieth century, Mexico City, the country's capital, exhibited unprecedented demographic growth and physical expansion involving numerous local government jurisdictions transcending the historical city limits. The resulting spatial distribution of population and location of economic activities in a complex metropolitan structure generated direct and indirect pressures on the Mexico Valley environment and beyond. Comprising the metropolitan area, a set of weak municipalities impose an apparent insurmountable barrier to transcend roles and a traditional institutional structure. Most, if not all, metropolitan municipalities have shown limited capabilities to respond to what seems to be the cross‐cutting character of these trends that require coordinated multisectorial and multiscale management solutions. This article analyzes the impact of those processes and explores the scope (challenges and opportunities) of urban and environmental metropolitan policy responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]