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A key dimension of the debate about policy innovation is the extent to which new policies achieve significant and lasting effects on the problems they purport to address. However, little is known about such effects. We break new ground by investigating how far current evaluation practices in a policy system with relatively ambitious climate policies – the European Union – identify the most effective (carbon-reducing) policies. We find that a small number of policy instruments are projected to deliver the lion’s share of emission reductions. Setting aside the special case of emissions trading, these instruments are not particularly innovative. If significant practical and political obstacles can be addressed, more (detailed) evaluations could enhance the evidence base and also the political prospects for delivering deeper emissions cuts through to 2050. An evaluation perspective could also offer a very different way to consider policy innovation dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid-1990s, the aim of keeping climate change within 2 °C has become firmly entrenched in policy discourses. In the past few years, the likelihood of achieving it has been increasingly called into question. The debate around what to do with a target that seems less and less achievable is, however, only just beginning. As the UN commences a two-year review of the 2 °C target, this article moves beyond the somewhat binary debates about whether or not it should or will be met, in order to analyse more fully some of the alternative options that have been identified but not fully explored in the existing literature. For the first time, uncertainties, risks, and opportunities associated with four such options are identified and synthesized from the literature. The analysis finds that the significant risks and uncertainties associated with some options may encourage decision makers to recommit to the 2 °C target as the least unattractive course of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union's (EU) claims to be a leader in international climate policy are well known. Since the early 1990s, a rich and vibrant academic literature has analyzed the internal sources and international consequences of its leadership aspirations, especially in relation to the challenges of mitigation. More recently, attention has turned to adaptation policy. The literature highlights how policy actors have successfully exploited many of the opportunities afforded by the EU's 'polycentric' form, while minimizing its downsides, but that acute challenges lie ahead, particularly if a strong global-level framework remains elusive. It has continually underlined the fact that the EU's climate policy activities have enormous relevance well beyond European borders. Both in terms of its role as a driver of international policy and a source of transferable policy lessons on how to govern in 'polycentric' settings, appreciating the EU's experience is vital for those seeking to understand the governance of climate change, both within and between states. WIREs Clim Change 2013, 4:75-90. doi: 10.1002/wcc.205 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that mainstreaming of climate change into existing EU sectoral policies is a key aim, empirical knowledge of how it works in practice remains scarce. With this paper we explore the degree to which climate considerations are taken into account in the implementation of one of the most influential pieces of European water legislation, the Water Framework Directive and, more importantly, we assess possible explanations for the geographical variability in levels of mainstreaming observed. Our empirical research is based on an analysis of both EU and local policy documents, as well as more than forty in-depth interviews, and shows that, for various reasons, the degree of mainstreaming that has taken place differs widely. We conclude that timely incentives and clear guidance will be necessary to ensure progress is made by all, but that a residual fear that the adaptation agenda is open to abuse by those seeking to rationalise failures to fully implement the Water Framework Directive has put a brake on the mainstreaming agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation to climate change raises important governance issues. Notwithstanding the increasing attention on climate adaptation at the global and European level, the variety of local conditions and climate impacts points towards a prime role for regional actors in climate change adaptation. They face the challenge of developing and implementing adaptation options and increasing the adaptive capacity of regions so that expected or unexpected impacts of future climate change can be addressed. This paper presents a conceptual framework to analyse the regional governance of climate adaptation. It addresses the following key questions: (1) What are the distinct challenges for the regional governance of climate adaptation? (2) Which concepts can guide the design of new governance arrangements and strategies? (3) What challenges to legal principles are posed by the climate? (4) What research methods are suitable for developing and testing governance arrangements and strategies? We present a framework designed to address each of these questions; it has analytical, design, normative, and methodological components. In the paper, examples from the Dutch regional governance of climate adaptation serve as illustrations of the conceptual argumentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is widely recognised as a ‘wicked’ policy problem. Agreeing and implementing governance responses is proving extremely difficult. Policy makers in many jurisdictions now emphasise their ambition to govern using the best available evidence. One obvious source of such evidence is the evaluations of the performance of existing policies. But to what extent do these evaluations provide insights into the difficult dilemmas that governors typically encounter? We address this question by reviewing the content of 262 evaluation studies of European climate policies in the light of six kinds of dilemma found in the governance literature. We are interested in what these studies say about the performance of European climate policies and in their capacity to inform evidence-based policy-making. We find that the evaluations do arrive at common findings: that climate change is framed as a problem of market and/or state failure; that voluntary measures tend to be ineffective; that market-based instruments tend to be regressive; that EU-level policies have driven climate policies in the latecomer EU Member States; and that lack of monitoring and weak enforcement are major obstacles to effective policy implementation. However, we also conclude that the evidence base these studies represent is surprisingly weak for such a high profile area. There is too little systematic climate policy evaluation work in the EU to support systematic evidence-based policy making. This reduces the scope for sound policy making in the short run and is a constraint to policy learning in the longer term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1997, successive Labour Governments have prioritised action on climate change. The United Kingdom is commonly perceived to be an international leader in terms of its global diplomatic efforts and, to a lesser extent, its domestic policy response. However, the UK's carbon dioxide emissions from the transport and housing sectors are increasing. In this paper, we focus on the transport sector and examine the extent to which policies have encouraged decarbonisation, and the underlying reasons behind their relative success or failure. Despite initial good intentions, policies aimed at improved efficiency, encouragement of less polluting modes of transport and reductions in demand have fallen short. Underlying this failure, we argue that the transport sector's traditional prioritising of the immediate economic implications of policy and the government's fear of being seen to impinge upon personal mobility have resulted in too strong a reliance on technological solutions rather than measures that seek to curb demand through behavioural change. We conclude by arguing that unless demand for carbon intensive forms of transport is reduced, the government will struggle to meet its increasingly ambitious carbon dioxide reduction targets, but that important new legislative initiatives at national and EU level offer chances for a more concerted approach.British Politics (2008) 3, 373–389. doi:10.1057/bp.2008.9 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appraisal—defined here to include a variety of ex ante techniques and procedures that seek to predict and evaluate the consequences of certain human actions—has been afforded an increas- ingly important role in environmental policy. We argue in this paper, however, that both the nature of appraisal and its role in the political process have been inadequately conceptualised. Exploring a literature that has tended to polarise ‘technical’ and ‘deliberative’ models, we identify a need for sensitive selection and combination of approaches, taking account of both the object and the objective of appraisal in particular contexts. We suggest that an important role for appraisal (by design or by default) may be that of providing spaces for dialogue and learning in the making of policies and decisions. A better understanding of such processes requires further research, particularly well- designed longitudinal work involving retrospective and ‘real time’ studies of appraisal in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopting a 'knowledge perspective', in which policy-making is seen as a process of collective learning through argument and persuasion, this paper assesses the record of the UK Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution as an advocate of concepts and reforms associated with ecological modernization. Drawing on extensive empirical research, it considers how the social and political climate in which the Commission has operated, as well as certain characteristics of the Commission as an advisory body, have conditioned its degree of influence over time. It argues that in various roles--as knowledge broker, policy entrepreneur and persuasive advocate--the Commission has been able to exert a significant influence on environmental policy in the UK and beyond. The paper also reflects on the utility of different approaches in theorizing the role of advisory bodies in the policy process. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With this paper we explore the potential of committees in parliamentary systems of government to influence environmental public policy making. We draw on delegation theory to argue that parliamentary committees are crucial ex post mechanisms used by the legislature (the principal) to monitor the activities of the executive (its agent). To examine this relationship in depth, we focus on the United Kingdom's Environmental Audit (select) Committee (EAC), which is an innovation as the world's first cross-cutting environmental parliamentary committee. We find that delegation theory provides fresh insights into the relationship between the EAC, the legislature, the executive, and the wider public. We find that an incomplete system of delegation in the United Kingdom has left an accountability deficit, meaning that the EAC's ability to exert influence on the executive's environmental policy is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]