scholarly journals Investing in climate solutions? An exploration of the discursive power and materiality of fossil fuel divestment campaigns in Scotland

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ella Muncie
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Financial Investments ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
Scottish Government ◽  
Discursive Power

AbstractDivestment is a climate change initiative that aims to persuade institutions, businesses, and governments to remove their financial investments from fossil fuel industries and instead invest in zero-carbon climate solutions. It has, however, also been conceived as an ongoing gateway tactic to curb long-term climate change and simultaneously secure social and environmental justice. Divestment has attracted global attention and is currently employed by numerous universities, religious institutions, art galleries, museums, and national and local governments, in various countries, including Scotland. However academic analysis of the movement remains underdeveloped. This article addresses such absence by giving a voice to the motives, tactics, and rationales as expressed by campaigners themselves. It identifies the collective action frames constructed by Scottish fossil fuel divestment campaigns in order to facilitate mobilisation and alignment with other climate change movements. A key premise of this article is to also explore the power of such frames to motivate action and to assess the extent to which divestment campaign groups can impact government discourse and policy. As such the article concludes by considering whether and how far divestment frames and discourses may have come to inform the climate change policy of the devolved Scottish Government.

scholarly journals Subnational Bipartisanship on Climate Change: Evidence from Surveys of Local and State Policymakers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Lee ◽  
Dominik Stecula
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Carbon Tax ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Address Climate Change ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The U.S

While the U.S. Congress has repeatedly failed to pass national legislation to address climate change over the years, there has been much more progress among state and local governments. But is this progress on climate change policy at the subnational level merely a reflection of the dominance of the Democratic party in certain regions of the country, or does it reflect successful bipartisan action? In this essay, we present novel evidence from two surveys of subnational policymakers, conducted in 2015 and 2017, to demonstrate that there is widespread bipartisan agreement among Republican and Democrat policymakers at the subnational level about (1) the existence of global warming and (2) what to do about it. Specifically, a majority in both parties believe global warming is happening and support the use of renewable energy mandates—rather than cap-and-trade, carbon tax, or emissions standards—to address the problem.

Challenges of Implementing Climate Change Adaptation Policy for Disaster Risk Reduction – Implications from Framing Gap Among Stakeholders and the General Public –

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 404-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenshi Baba ◽  
◽  
Mitsuru Tanaka ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
General Public ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Adaptation Policy ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Climate Change Risk ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation Policy

Local governments are expected to play a significant role in making cities resilient, especially in reducing disaster risks and adapting to climate change. To obtain the relevant actors’ understanding and cooperation in implementing adaptation measures, it is essential that the potential framing gaps which may arise between them in terms of the impacts and risks of climate change be filled in. In this study, we have identified the framing gaps between stakeholders and the general public. We analyzed the questionnaire data obtained from the general public and the stakeholder data obtained by means of a case study carried out in Tokyo. We then integrated the results and derived three implications: i) it is effective to implement climate change adaptation policy that local governments obtain an understanding of multi-benefit of the the policy as well as climate change risk from the public through community-based groups, avocational groups and other organizations in the local community. ii) as for a firmly locked-in view of climate change policy that the policy means just reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, communication strategies for accurately explaining the relationship between adaptation measures and mitigation measures is required, and iii) as for the challenges of agenda setting for incorporating climate change risk into administrative plans, the department of the environment who is in charge of climate change policy is required to take a leadership in a coordinating function, for example, raising the awareness of other departments in terms of adaptation measures and providing them with scientific knowledge of climate change risk.

Innovation and Climate Change Policy

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 125-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua S Gans
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Alternative Energy ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Environmentally Friendly ◽  
Climate Change Policies ◽  
Relative Demand ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Innovation Incentives

This paper examines whether climate change policies will induce innovation in environmentally friendly technologies. The model demonstrates that a tighter emissions cap will reduce the scale of fossil fuel usage and that this will diminish incentives to improve fossil fuel efficiencies. In addition, such policies may stimulate the relative demand for innovations that improve the efficiency of alternative energy but carbon scarcity may diminish innovation incentives overall. Only for technologies that directly abate carbon pollution will there be an unambiguously positive impact on innovation. These results have implications for climate change targets and the design of climate change policy. (JEL O31, Q54, Q55, Q58)

Cap-and-trade, crowding out, and the implications for municipal climate policy motivations

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 1693-1715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyne St-Louis ◽  
Adam Millard-Ball
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Policy ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
State Level ◽  
Global Environment ◽  
Crowding Out ◽  
Cap And Trade ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Reduce Emissions

Cities have emerged as important actors in climate change policy, implementing measures to reduce emissions from transportation, buildings, and waste. More recently, states such as California have implemented cap-and-trade programs to control greenhouse gases. However, a state-level cap handcuffs cities: by fixing emissions at the level of the cap, it precludes local governments from further reducing aggregate emissions. In this paper, we examine whether cities respond to the changed incentives presented by state-level programs. We find no evidence for crowding out: cities plan their emission reductions in similar ways regardless of state-level cap-and-trade programs. Our results suggest that cities likely have a range of motivations for their climate policy efforts- not simply a altruistic desire to improve the global environment.

scholarly journals The Paradox of Public Trust Shaping Local Climate Change Adaptation

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
Olivia Termini ◽  
Scott E. Kalafatis
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Local Climate Change

Growing attention is being directed towards understanding the ways in which climate change policy is shaped by the actions and interests of local governments. This study explores connections between local government’s efforts to uphold and maintain the public trust and their considerations about climate change adaptation associated with water management. Document analysis and 24 interviews with local public officials are used to shed light on these considerations in three small municipalities in central Pennsylvania: Chambersburg, Carlisle, and Gettysburg. The analysis provides indications that a paradox of public trust leads to public officials pursuing actions and considerations that are consistent with climate change adaptation, but not recognizing that they are doing so. The implications of this governing mindset for climate change outreach and policy are explored. Suggestions for countering the logic of inaction expressed by public officials that justified a lack of adaptation are identified, and the potential for state and federal interventions to stimulate climate adaptation in contexts like these local governments is explored.

Copenhagen Agreement - A New Paradigm of Climate Problem Solving

2010 ◽  
pp. 115-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Agibalov ◽  
A. Kokorin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
New Order ◽  
Paradigm Shifts ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Energy Efficiency Policy ◽  
Policy Paradigm ◽  
Change Policy

Copenhagen summit results could be called a failure. This is the failure of UN climate change policy management, but definitely the first step to a new order as well. The article reviews main characteristics of climate policy paradigm shifts. Russian interests in climate change policy and main threats are analyzed. Successful development and implementation of energy savings and energy efficiency policy are necessary and would sufficiently help solving the global climate change problem.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document