What drives sub-national bioenergy development? Exploring cross-level implications of environmental policy integration in EU and Swedish bioenergy policy

What are the sub-national implications, in policy and practice, of environmental policy integration (EPI) in EU and Swedish bioenergy policy? Focusing on the exceptional bioenergy expansion within the Biofuel Region in north Sweden, this paper discusses cross-level implications of supranational and national policy decisions on bioenergy; whether environmental perspectives are observable also in sub-national bioenergy discussions; and explores the drivers of sub-national bioenergy development in a multi-level governance setting. The study finds that higher-level EPI plays an important role for sub-national bioenergy development. The degree of sub-national EPI in bioenergy and the type of renewables invested in is to a large extent set by top-down influence from the EU and national level through agenda setting, policy goals and economic mechanisms. Local policy entrepreneurs play an important role for finding ‘win-win’-solutions that can help initiating local energy projects and ensure sub-national EPI, but environmental-economic – rather than merely economic – motives for getting involved are important to ensure long-term local commitment to renewable energy projects.

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Strategic Environmental Assessment: Current Status, Practices and Challenges in Bangladesh

International Journal of Environment and Climate Change ◽

10.9734/ijecc/2021/v11i330375 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 38-48

Author(s):

Md. Sahadat Hossan ◽

Md. Shafiqul Bari ◽

Md. Shoaibur Rahman ◽

Md. Abu Hanif ◽

Md. Manik Ali

Keyword(s):

Environmental Policy ◽

Environmental Assessment ◽

Environmental Law ◽

National Policy ◽

Strategic Environmental Assessment ◽

Evaluation Framework ◽

Current Status ◽

Policy Integration ◽

Environmental Evaluation ◽

Environmental Policy Integration

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is an appraisal device of policies, plans, and programs and has evolved from an alternative of environmental impact assessment (EIA) to a potential environmental policy integration tool in national policy planning. Bangladesh has likewise rendered SEA in its environmental evaluation framework to consider environmental and social outcomes of policies, plans, and programs(PPPs), but the practice and current situation of SEA in Bangladesh is unknown to all. Considering this crisis the study was carried out to analyze the present status of SEA as well as to find out the constraints for successful SEA implementation in Bangladesh as an approach to integrate environmental considerations in the PPPs. The data were collected through multiple methodological techniques including document review as well as survey by standard questionnaire and key informant interviews (KIIs) with different stakeholders of the various backgrounds of Bangladesh related to policymaking. The study showed that SEA first appeared in Bangladesh in 2006 with the support of the World Bank as a donor agency and the first SEA was done in Bangladesh on the Dhaka metropolitan development plan in 2007. But through the enactment of the National Environmental Policy 2018, SEA gained formal status in the country. Now, This study also revealed that most of the organizations (government and non-government) i.e. 55.77 percent never practice SEA whereas only 15.38 percent of organizations of Bangladesh practice SEA on regular basis, and 28.85 percent of organizations practiced partially for assessing SEA in their proposed PPPs. A diverse list of constraints such as lack of political will, lacking awareness of SEA, inadequate finance, weak enforcement of environmental law, and inadequate knowledge of the implementation of SEA in PPPs were identified. Therefore, awareness building, capacity development, and proper training on SEA in Bangladesh are urgently needed.

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Wetlands in Ethiopia: Lessons From 20 years of Research, Policy and Practice

Wetlands ◽

10.1007/s13157-021-01420-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Alan Dixon ◽

Adrian Wood ◽

Afework Hailu

Keyword(s):

Research Policy ◽

Wetland Management ◽

Local Level ◽

National Policy ◽

Research Programme ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Policy Goals ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Wetland Use

AbstractThroughout sub-Saharan Africa wetlands provide ecosystem services that are critical to the development needs of many people. Local wetland use, however, is often at odds with broader national policy goals in which narratives of conservation and protection dominate, hence a recurring challenge is how to reconcile these tensions through the development of policies and field practice that deliver sustainable development. In this paper we examine the extent to which this challenge has been achieved in Ethiopia, charting the changes in wetlands policy and discourse over the last twenty years while reviewing the contribution of the multidisciplinary Ethiopian Wetlands Research Programme (EWRP) (1997–2000). Our analysis suggests that despite EWRP having a significant legacy in developing national interest in wetlands among research, government and non-governmental organisations, its more holistic social-ecological interpretation of wetland management remains neglected within a policy arena dominated by specific sectoral interests and little recognition of the needs of local people. In exploring the impacts at the local level, recent investigations with communities in Ilu Aba Bora Zone highlight adjustments in wetland use that famers attribute to environmental, economic and social change, but which also evidence the adaptive nature of wetland-based livelihoods.

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