Climate Challenges, Ecological Modernization, and Technological Forcing: Policy Lessons from a Comparative US-EU Analysis

The practice of “technological forcing,” understood as policy designed to accelerate technological innovation for the purposes of environmental protection, was pioneered in the USA during the 1970s and continued in Europe with feed-in tariffs for renewable energy and the emissions trading scheme. In order to draw lessons for climate policy, the article tests the capacity of “technological forcing” to translate ecological modernization theory into effective policy and practice, by providing analysis of three case studies. It argues that ambitious climate policies require not only technical proficiency in policy design, but also greater acknowledgment of the need to achieve structural change in major industrial sectors. It concludes that technology-based policies need to be accompanied by economic and political strategies to counteract incumbent resistance, and delineates potential means to do so.

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RETHINKING ENVIRONMENTAL FEDERALISM IN A WARMING WORLD

Climate Change Economics ◽

10.1142/s2010007812500182 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 03 (04) ◽

pp. 1250018 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

WILLIAM M. SHOBE ◽

DALLAS BURTRAW

Keyword(s):

Policy Design ◽

Climate Change Policy ◽

National Policy ◽

Climate Policies ◽

Change Policy ◽

Unitary Model ◽

Effective Policy ◽

Pass Through ◽

Warming World ◽

Federal Structure

Climate change policy analysis has focused almost exclusively on national policy and even on harmonizing climate policies across countries, implicitly assuming that harmonization of climate policies at the subnational level would be mandated or guaranteed. We argue that the design and implementation of climate policy in a federal union will diverge in important ways from policy design in a unitary government. National climate policies built on the assumption of a unitary model of governance are unlikely to achieve the expected outcome because of interactions with policy choices made at the subnational level. In a federal system, the information and incentives generated by a national policy must pass through various levels of subnational fiscal and regulatory policy. Effective policy design must recognize both the constraints and the opportunities presented by a federal structure of government. Furthermore, policies that take advantage of the federal structure of government can improve climate governance outcomes.

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Responsible and sustainable farm business: Contextual duality as the moderating influence on entrepreneurial orientation

The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation ◽

10.1177/1465750320944702 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 146575032094470 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anne MJ Smith ◽

Peter Duncan ◽

David Edgar ◽

Julie McColl

Keyword(s):

Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽

Policy Design ◽

Ethnographic Study ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Agricultural Industry ◽

Grass Roots ◽

Effective Policy ◽

The Rich ◽

Rural Ecosystem ◽

Farm Business

Tackling poverty and injustices, protecting the environment and ensuring equality, all underpin ideas of being a responsible business. There are many arbitrators of what constitutes a responsible business and rethinking the United Kingdom’s farm business, post BREXIT, post COVID-19 and in relation to the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of farmers is timely and essential to tackle crisis, uncertainty and sustain a healthy rural ecosystem. This is an ethnographic study into contextual dualities. Data from one case farm are presented, and findings are triangulated through a grounded thematic data analysis of five in-depth interviews with other farms from the same community. An empirically informed framework is constructed explaining how, through duality, EO is moderated across six themes. The contributions to policy and practice are intertwined. Through identification of moderators of (and for) duality, the rural ecosystem can be better managed through effective policy design and responsible practice at grass roots. Accelerated professionalisation in the agricultural industry involves combining the rich, irreplaceable knowledge of older generations with shaping the values and behaviours of new generations. By synthesising EO with farmer mentality, we theorise and inform how to re-educate future generations in responsible and sustainable farm businesses.

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Market-based Mechanisms as Climate Policies: Insights for Brazil

elni Review ◽

10.46850/elni.2012.002 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 8-12

Author(s):

Natascha Trennepohl

Keyword(s):

National Policy ◽

Emission Trading ◽

Emissions Reduction ◽

Climate Regime ◽

Design Elements ◽

Climate Policies ◽

Emissions Trading Scheme ◽

Attractive Option ◽

International Climate ◽

Trading Scheme

The use of market-based mechanisms as environmental policies to achieve greenhouse gas emissions reduction has been in place for some years and remains an attractive option in the international climate regime. This article intends to highlight basic elements of setting up an emission trading scheme and the corresponding framework in place in Brazil, considering that the country has signaled its intention to encourage the development of the Brazilian Emissions Reduction Market (MBRE). Hence, the structure of the article will be as follows: Initially, basic design elements of an emissions trading scheme are described. Following this, a general overview of the national policy on climate change in Brazil is presented, followed by references to the Brazilian Emissions Reduction Market (Mercado Brasileiro de Redução de Emissões - MBRE) and the recently established Standard for the Voluntary Carbon Market.

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Designing New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme

Global Environmental Politics ◽

10.1162/glep_a_00414 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 31-50 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Tor Håkon Jackson Inderberg ◽

Ian Bailey ◽

Nichola Harmer

Keyword(s):

Climate Policy ◽

Policy Development ◽

Emissions Trading ◽

Policy Design ◽

Trading Systems ◽

International Diffusion ◽

Emissions Trading Scheme ◽

Trading Scheme ◽

Temporal Dimensions ◽

Adoption Design

We use the New Zealand emissions trading scheme to explore how diffusion and learning from other emissions trading systems can explain the adoption, design, and revision of climate policy. Drawing on secondary documents and interviews with politicians, government officials, business leaders, and independent commentators, we argue for further investigation of how interactions between international and domestic factors shape the design of climate policy, and for deeper probing of structural and shorter-term domestic imperatives, to avoid misreading the extent and nature of international diffusion influences. We particularly stress the importance of distinguishing analytically between diffusion interactions motivated by learning between jurisdictions and scrutiny aimed at avoiding material disadvantages as a result of miscalculations in climate policy design. Finally, we argue for greater attention to the temporal dimensions of climate policy development in explanations of how diffusion and domestic influences may change during policy adoption, design, and revision.

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The Making of the 2003 EU Emissions Trading Directive: An Ultra-Quick Process due to Entrepreneurial Proficiency?

Global Environmental Politics ◽

10.1162/1526380053243477 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 1-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

Jørgen Wettestad

Keyword(s):

Emissions Trading ◽

Decision Making Process ◽

Global Policy ◽

Track Record ◽

Climate Policies ◽

The Us ◽

Emissions Trading Scheme ◽

Policy Experiment ◽

Trading Scheme ◽

The Eu

The EU emissions trading scheme has been characterized as one of the most farreaching and radical environmental policies for many years, and “the new grand policy experiment.” Given the EU's earlier resistance to this market-based instrument with no international track record and with US origins, the EU decision-making process, which took less than two years, can be characterized as a puzzlingly ultra-quick political “pregnancy.” In order to understand this, it is necessary to take three explanatory perspectives—and the interaction between them—into account. First, the emissions trading issue was more mature within the EU system than immediately apparent, given that emissions projections were worrying and no effective common climate policies had been adopted. Second, the Commission acted as a strong and clever policy entrepreneur, dealing with other basically positive EU bodies. Third, when the US pulled out of the Kyoto process in March 2001, it provided a window of opportunity for the EU to take the reins of global policy leadership.

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