scholarly journals Assessing City Governance for Low-Carbon Mobility in London

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2480
Author(s):  
Paul Drummond
Keyword(s):  
Urban Form ◽  
Stakeholder Participation ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Enabling Factors ◽  
Local Leadership ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Strong Capacity ◽  
The Eu

City-level decisions are crucial for delivering a low carbon transition, particularly as urban population dynamics and environments change in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ensuring appropriate governance structures, mechanisms and resources to facilitate these decisions is therefore essential. Based on a systematic literature review by van der Heijden (2019), this paper develops a simple framework to assess the state of ten enabling factors for effective urban climate governance, and applies it to low-carbon passenger mobility in London. Drawing on documentary evidence and a series of semi-structured expert interviews, it finds that London’s city authorities have a strong capacity for autonomy, stakeholder participation, local leadership and coordination on climate action and mobility, of which they make extensive use. The national legal and political framework remains broadly supportive following the UK’s departure from the EU, but multi-level co-ordination is thin, and funding issues have intensified conflict over political jurisdiction since the pandemic began. Spatial variation in urban form and infrastructure, coupled with dual-layer city administration, complicate the socio-political landscape and drive for climate action in mobility.

Multi-level governance: opportunities and barriers in moving to a low-carbon Scotland

2012 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Sugden ◽  
Alan Werritty ◽  
Janette Webb ◽  
Erica Caldwell ◽  
Colin Campbell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
City Regions ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Scottish Government ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
The Eu

ABSTRACTIn view of the challenge posed by climate change and the need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, The Royal Society of Edinburgh Inquiry (2011) examined the barriers making it difficult for Scotland to change to a low-carbon society. The single most important finding is that, whilst widely desired, change is held back by the lack of coherence and integration of policy at different levels of governance. There is activity at the level of the EU, UK Government, Scottish Government, local authorities, local communities, households and civil society, but there is often a disconnection between policies at different levels. This impedes progress and also leads to mistrust among the general public. This paper brings together the background to ten primary recommendations featured in the Inquiry addressing the principal barriers. Above all, it is important to integrate the activities within city regions and to exploit opportunities in local communities. Reflecting on the Inquiry findings, we stress the economic, social and environmental opportunities to be gained from a low-carbon society and outline the step changes that need to take place within governance, city regions and local authorities and civil society.

Deadlock or new opening? Current state and prospects for development of Lithuanian-Belarusian relations

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-141
Author(s):  
Justyna Olędzka
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Future ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Eu

The purpose of this article is to discuss the trajectory of Belarusian-Lithuanian relations with a particular focus on the period after the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, which resulted in a change in international relations in the region. This was the moment that redefined the Lithuanian-Belarusian relations, which until 2020 were satisfactory for both sides (especially in the economic aspect). However, Lithuania began to pursue a reactive policy of promoting the democratisation of Belarus and provided multi-level support to Belarusian opposition forces. The current problems in bilateral relations (e.g., the future of Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant located in Astravyets) have been put on the agenda for discussion at the EU level, while the instruments of a hybrid conflict in the form of an influx of immigrants into Lithuania, controlled by the Belarusian regime, have become a key issue for the future prospects of relations between Belarus and Lithuania.

External factors will prod Russia into climate action

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Export Markets ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Carbon Emissions Trading ◽  
Emissions Trading Scheme ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
The Government ◽  
Trading Scheme ◽  
The Eu

Significance This is still tentative planning but it indicates the Kremlin is being spurred into action by looming curbs on high-carbon products in China and the EU, Russia's key export markets. Russia has so far resisted calls for more ambitious commitments. Impacts Siberian forest fires will focus public attention on the environment, if not global warming. Blame for the wildfires, as with other environmental problems, will be weaponised in elite infighting. The government is interested in developing cheap, green hydrogen. A pilot carbon emissions trading scheme in Sakhalin could be scaled up to other parts of Russia.

Regional competence: changing patterns of the Basque regionalism in the EU

2011 ◽  
pp. 239-263
Author(s):  
Karolina BORONSKA-HRYNIEWIECKA
Keyword(s):  
Basque Country ◽  
Regional Studies ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Active Player ◽  
European Governance ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Pais Vasco ◽  
Supranational Level ◽  
The Eu

LABURPENA: Artikulu honek, Euskadi adibidetzat hartuta, gaur egungo nazioz azpiko erregionalismoaren izaera aldakorra aztertzen du. Eta erakusten du euskal eskualde-estrategien bilakaera, eta nola lehengo jarrera probintziaren aldekoa bazen eta elkarren arteko lehia bultzatzen bazuen, oraingoa, berriz, irekia, kooperatiboa eta berritzailea dela, hobeto moldatzen dena Europako gobernantza-modu berrietara. Gaur egungo eskualde-ikerketek eskaintzen dituzten tresna teorikoak oinarri hartuta, artikulu honek euskal erregionalismotik sortzen den jarrera hibridoa aztertzen du. Horren osagaiak berriak, postmodernoak eta nazioz haraindikoak dira, eta eskualdearen ahalmen ekonomiko, politiko eta soziala indartzeko eta Europako kontuetan jokalari aktibo izateko balio dute. Europar Batasuneko eskualdeestrategien norabideak garrantzi berezia dauka Europan sortu den maila anitzeko gobernantza dela-eta, zeinetan agintea gobernu zentraletatik aldendu baita: gorantz, nazioz gaindiko mailara; beherantz, nazioz azpiko jurisdikzioetara; eta alboetara, estatu ez direnen sare publiko eta pribatuetara, eta horrek aukera berriak eskaini dizkie erregionalistei antzeko helburuak lortzeko. RESUMEN: Este articulo analiza la naturaleza cambiante del regionalismo subnacional contemporaneo a traves del ejemplo del Pais Vasco. Muestra de que maneras las estrategias regionales vascas han evolucionado desde un aspecto provincial y de confrontacion a uno abierto, cooperativo e innovador, que se adapta a las nuevas formas de gobernanza europea. A partir de los instrumentos teoricos ofrecidos por los estudios regionales contemporaneos este articulo explora el tipo hibrido que emerge del regionalismo vasco que consiste en componentes nuevos, postmodernos y transnacionales que sirven para fortalecer la competencia economica, politica y social de la region como un jugador activo en los asuntos europeos. La cuestion de la direccion de las estrategias regionalistas en la Union Europea resulta especialmente sobresaliente a la vista de la gobernanza multinivel europea emergente donde el poder ha sido apartado de los gobiernos centrales: hacia arriba al nivel supranacional, hacia abajo a las jurisdicciones subnacionales y a los costados a las redes publicas y privadas de los actores no estatales que ha dado a los regionalistas nuevas posibilidades de alcanzar similares objetivos. ABSTRACT: This paper analyses the changing nature of the contemporary subnational regionalism through the example of the Basque Country. It shows in what ways the Basque regionalist strategies have evolved from parochial and confrontational to outward looking, cooperative and innovative, adapting to the challenges of European integration and the emergence of new modes of European governance. On the basis of theoretical tools provided by contemporary regional studies this paper explores the emerging hybrid type of Basque regionalism consisting of the new, postmodern and transnational components which serve to strenghten the economic, political and social competence of the region as an active player in European affairs. The question of the direction of regionalist strategies in the EU seems especially salient in the view of the emerging European multi-level governance where power has been dispersed away from central governments; upwards to the supranational level, downwards to subnational jurisdictions and sideways to public and private networks of non-state actors which has given the regionalists new possibilities of achieving similar goals.

Italy and the politics of European defence: playing by the logic of multi-level networks

Modern Italy ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Foradori ◽  
Paolo Rosa
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
European Level ◽  
Foreign And Security Policy ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Common Defence

SummaryThe article looks at the role of Italy in the decision-making arena of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), analysing the initiatives it put in place to address and influence the construction of a common defence. The article aims to explain the ability or inability of Italy to build up a consensus around its proposals. By studying two initiatives in the field of European defence and security, it seeks to determine the factors which resulted in the differing outcomes of Italian actions at the European level.

scholarly journals Energy Security Problem amid Global Energy Transition

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 772-784
Author(s):  
Yury V. Borovsky
Keyword(s):  
Energy Security ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
The United States ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Security Threat ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

In the early 2020s the worlds transition from carbon-intensive to climate-neutral energy use has already become a discernible and a difficult-to-reverse process. With Joe Bidens election as US president, the United States have returned to the Paris Climate Agreement and have become a key driver of this process (along with the EU and China). As a result, the international community has reached a consensus on the ongoing energy transition. This process will require considerable effort and may take several decades. Nevertheless, the impact of energy transition on traditional approaches to energy security, which emerged largely as a result of the global oil crises of the 1970s and 1980s and are centered around the supply of fossil fuels, is already a relevant research topic. This problem is examined relying on the relevant terminological, theoretical and factual material. The article concludes that energy transition will ultimately undermine the carbon paradigm that has underpinned energy security policies since the 1970s. Rapid development of renewable and other low-carbon energy sources will certainly remove key energy security risks of energy importers and, possibly, allow them to achieve energy independence. However, a post-carbon era may also generate new risks. For countries that rely heavily on oil, gas and coal exports, energy transition will result in the loss of markets and revenues. It may present an energy security threat for them as well as it will require a costly and technologically complex process of the energy sector decarbonization. Some exporters, especially those with high fuel rents and insufficient financial reserves, may face serious economic and social upheavals as a result of energy transition. The EU and the US energy transition policies reflect provisions of all three fundamental international relations theoretical paradigms, including realism. This means that the EU and the US policy, aimed at promoting climate agenda, may be expected to be rather tough and aggressive. China as the third key player in energy transition is still following a liberal course; however, it may change in the future.

scholarly journals Multi-level Governance and Energy Specifics of the V4 Countries within the Context of European Integration

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 525-546
Author(s):  
Helena Bauerová ◽  
Milan Vošta
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Energy Policy ◽  
State Level ◽  
Theoretical Concept ◽  
Levels Of Analysis ◽  
Energy Mix ◽  
Strategic Plans ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe topic of energy is still one of the most sensitive policy areas. The aim of this article is to examine the multi-level governance and energy specifics of the V4 countries within the context of European integration by analyzing selected the specifics of the energy mix of the V4 group countries. This will be carried out within the context of applying the theory of multilevel governance. The paper shows how energy policy is formed at state, and/or non-state level, as well as how these levels are influenced by the EU. The article also looks at the efforts taken to shape a common energy policy. A closer examination of the individual countries‘ levels lies outside the scope of this article. Therefore, the framework was chosen with regard to the particular features within the context of the functioning of the V4 group of countries. Using multi-level governance as a theoretical concept, the authors considered the limits arising from the determination of levels and the subjects of the survey, as well as having distinguished three levels of analysis. The first is the supranational level. This is represented by the EU. The second level is represented by the V4 states. The third level is the state as the actor that formulates energy policy, sets the energy mix and subsequently manifests itself in relation to the EU and the V4 group. Energy policy is significantly influenced by states, especially in the area of energy security of fuel supplies, or that of setting the energy mix. With the gradual communitarization of energy policy, the EU’s influence is growing and it is debatable how the evaluation of existing strategic plans, presented by individual states, will be done. The role of the V4 group is the weakest of the three levels of analysis which were examined. However, its increasing influence can be predicted mainly in the case of coal depletion and the perception of nuclear energy as a renewable source.

scholarly journals French Energy Sector in Search for Optimal Model

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 156-171
Author(s):  
A. V. Zimakov
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Reactors ◽  
Current Model ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Green Energy ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
The Eu

Clean energy transition is one of major transformation processes in the EU. There are different approaches among EU countries to decarbonization of their energy systems. The article deals with clean energy transition in France with the emphasis on power generation. While this transformation process is in line with similar developments in the EU, the Franch case has its distinct nature due to nuclear power domination in electricity production there. It represents a challenge for the current model as the transition is linked to a sharp drop of nuclear share in the power mix. It is important to understand the trajectory of further clean energy transition in France and its ultimate model. The article reviews the historical roots of the current model (which stems from Messmer plan of the 1970-es) and its development over years, as well as assesses its drawbacks and merits in order to outline possible future prospects. The conclusion is that the desired reduction of nuclear energy is linked not solely to greening process but has a complex of reasons, the ageing of nuclear reactors being one of them. Nuclear power remains an important low-carbon technology allowing France to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. A desired future energy model in France can be understood based on the analysis of new legislation and government action plans. The targeted model is expected to balance of nuclear and green energy in the generation mix in 50% to 40% proportion by 2035, with the rest left to gas power generation. Being pragmatic, French government aims at partial nuclear reactors shut down provided that this will not lead to the rise of GHG emissions, energy market distortions, or electricity price hikes. The balanced French model is believed to be a softer and socially comfortable option of low-carbon model.

scholarly journals Representing ‘Place’: City Climate Commissions and the Institutionalisation of Experimental Governance in Edinburgh

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Creasy ◽  
Matthew Lane ◽  
Alice Owen ◽  
Candice Howarth ◽  
Dan Van der Horst
Keyword(s):  
Urban Governance ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Urban Transformation ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Agents Of Change ◽  
Urban Futures ◽  
Key Industries ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City ◽  
Insight Into

Against the backdrop of increasingly fragmented and poly-centric urban climate governance, this article examines the establishment of city climate ‘commissions’ as an experimental means of addressing the challenge of climate change at the city-scale. In doing so it addresses the question: What constitutes diversity in voices and perspectives when trying to represent the city as a place for climate action? To answer this question, the article presents an analysis of the Edinburgh Climate Commission’s establishment, drawing on participatory ethnographic research carried out by a researcher embedded within the project team. The account of how this new mode of urban governance was both conceptualised and then put into practice offers a new institutional angle to the literature on urban ‘experimentation.’ Through our reflective analysis we argue that aspirations to ensure pre-defined ‘key’ industries (high carbon emitters) are accounted for in commissioner recruitment, and an over-emphasis on capturing discernible ‘impacts’ in the short term (by involving organisations already pro-active in sustainable development) hindered an opportunity to embrace new perspectives on urban futures and harness the innovative potential of cities to engage with the multifaceted nature of the climate challenge. Furthermore, new insight into the relationship between local authorities and other ‘place-based’ agents of change opens up important questions regarding how to balance the attainment of legitimacy within the political status quo, and the prospect of a new radical politics for urban transformation.

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