Michael 't Sas-Rolfes, Daniel W. S. Challender, Laurence Wainwright
{"title":"Playing the CITES game: Lessons on global conservation governance from African megafauna","authors":"Michael 't Sas-Rolfes, Daniel W. S. Challender, Laurence Wainwright","doi":"10.1002/eet.2123","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eet.2123","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Growing awareness and concern over environmental issues has been accompanied by a proliferation of international environmental agreements during the last half-century. Among these, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), stands out as one of the oldest and strongest influences on global biodiversity conservation policy. However, the effectiveness of CITES has been questioned—for various reasons and from various quarters—with a range of differing opinions. To provide further insight on this issue we drew from and built upon recent advances in the environmental governance literature to develop an approach to analysing how the CITES-centred wildlife trading regime influences actor behaviour. After developing a rule-categorised framework to analyse the structure of the treaty, we conducted dynamic analysis of actor behaviour using case study material on CITES-listed African megafauna species (elephants, rhinoceroses, and lions), examining recent developments over a five-year period (2016–2020). Drawing on this material, we further applied institutional diagnostics to gain insight into the conservation effectiveness of the CITES regime. Our analysis of these case studies suggests that CITES can be gamed by special interest groups and that its institutional design facilitates the evolution of an international prohibition regime. Our research produces novel insights into the operation of this process and raises concerns about consequences for African biodiversity conservation. We conclude with recommendations for wildlife trade policy reform and further research.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"35 1","pages":"48-63"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.2123","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142207347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meredith Hovis, Andrea K. Gerlak, Tanya Heikkila, Pam Rittelmeyer, Elizabeth Koebele, Linda Estelí Méndez-Barrientos, Mark Lubell
{"title":"Illuminating the collective learning continuum in the Colorado River Basin Science-Policy Forums","authors":"Meredith Hovis, Andrea K. Gerlak, Tanya Heikkila, Pam Rittelmeyer, Elizabeth Koebele, Linda Estelí Méndez-Barrientos, Mark Lubell","doi":"10.1002/eet.2125","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eet.2125","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Although considerable research over the past two decades has examined collective learning in environmental governance, much of this scholarship has focused on cases where learning occurred, limiting our understanding of the drivers and barriers to learning. To advance knowledge of what we call the “collective learning continuum,” we compare cases of learning to cases where learning was not found to occur or its effects were “blocked.” Through semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in science-policy forums in the Colorado River Basin, a large and complex river basin in western North America, we examine differences and patterns that explain moments of learning, blocked learning, or non-learning, drawing insights from the collective learning framework. Our results find various factors that influence learning, blocked learning, and non-learning. We discover technical and social factors as common drivers of both learning and blocked learning. In contrast, we find more structural factors associated with non-learning. At the same time, the cases reveal insights about the role of political factors, such as timing, legal constraints, and priorities, which are underdeveloped in the collective learning framework. Overall, these findings advance theoretical knowledge of the collective learning continuum and offer practical insights that may strengthen the coordination of science and management for effective governance within the Basin.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"35 1","pages":"26-47"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.2125","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141927553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Achieving economy-wide gains from residential energy efficiency improvements: The importance of timing and funding approach in driving the transition","authors":"Antonios Katris, Karen Turner","doi":"10.1002/eet.2124","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eet.2124","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Residential energy efficiency improvements are generally considered integral to achieving climate change targets. Alongside the primary benefits of reducing energy use and consumer bills, there is increasing policy interest in the potential for energy efficiency programmes to deliver economy-wide gains, measured by gross domestic product, employment, household real incomes and spending power etc. Our previous research shows that such sustained gains are likely over time. Here, we consider how transitory outcomes are likely to be heavily influenced by the timing of actions and who pays, how and when. Insight in this regard is crucial for policy makers considering the mix and timing of measures to reach net zero outcomes that are economically as well as technically feasible. We consider alternative funding, distributions and timeframes for residential retrofitting costs and projects using a UK economy-wide scenario simulation model. The key insight is that while government support for the provision of low-cost finance options is strategically important in alleviating budget constraints and mitigating potential short-term negative impacts on household spending, producer responses to the wind down of retrofitting spending can disrupt the adjustment of the economy. Here we identify pros and cons of different trajectories of action towards high-level energy efficiency policy targets.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"35 1","pages":"13-25"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.2124","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141943846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The state against the environment? Water management and the regulation of tensions between sectoral policies in France","authors":"Sylvain Barone","doi":"10.1002/eet.2121","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eet.2121","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The effectiveness and efficiency of environmental policy largely depends on how other policies take account of ecological objectives, whether in the industrial, agricultural, urban planning, transport, housing or budget sectors. The state bears responsibility for how these public policies interrelate, including establishing a hierarchy of priority or allowing one area to ignore another. What can we learn about environmental policy from an analysis of the tensions between multiple sectoral policies, and more generally about the state and the political and institutional functioning that shapes the management of an environmental issue? Taking water management in France as a case study, this article argues that an approach focused on the regulation of tensions between various public policies can shed new light on the structural difficulties of environmental policy. It shows how ideas, norms, interests, strategies, professional cultures, and so forth, that underpin public policy outside the environmental field shape the handling of ecological issues. It also highlights the way the state views and handles these tensions between policies through institutional arrangements and socio-political compromises with influential sectoral actors and social groups.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"35 1","pages":"3-12"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141864570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Governance gaps and accountability traps in renewables extractivism","authors":"Susan Park, Teresa Kramarz, Craig Johnson","doi":"10.1002/eet.2122","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eet.2122","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The global uptake of renewable technology is both a dramatic and insufficient contribution to achieving a 1.5–2° world. However, urgently decarbonizing energy use and systems by shifting to renewables relies on intensifying global supply chains, beginning with the extraction of “critical” minerals, an industry that has a long history of generating significant social and ecological harms. This paper examines the nature of transnational governance initiatives that have emerged to regulate what has been called “renewables extractivism.” We develop a novel database of 44 transnational initiatives for governing minerals for onshore wind, solar PV, and lithium-ion batteries, which are driving renewable energy uptake. The database reveals “governance gaps” that refer to an absence of rules for many critical minerals and “accountability traps” where actors are held responsible for processes, standards, and sanctions that reflect their own normative logics, rather than the needs of affected communities and ecosystems. Current initiatives are designed in a way that measures, evaluates, and (very rarely) sanctions governance outcomes primarily in relation to supply chain security and energy access, as opposed to mitigating the social and environmental harms of resource extraction. The result is a transnational governance architecture that operates primarily (and systematically) with minimal scrutiny, transparency, and accountability. For stakeholders directly affected by the latest mining boom cycle, the absence of effective and legitimate accountability mechanisms reinforces a pattern of uneven development that shifts the most destructive forms of extraction to the social and ecological margins of the global commodity frontier.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"34 6","pages":"754-767"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.2122","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141744354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Josiane Gakou-Kakeu, Monica Di Gregorio, Jouni Paavola, Denis Jean Sonwa
{"title":"REDD+ organisational arrangements and potential for sectoral integration: Evidence from Cameroon","authors":"Josiane Gakou-Kakeu, Monica Di Gregorio, Jouni Paavola, Denis Jean Sonwa","doi":"10.1002/eet.2120","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eet.2120","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The organisational arrangements of the <i>Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation</i> (REDD+) mechanism have been scrutinised for their capacity to support emissions reduction and promote local stakeholder participation. Yet, whether they facilitate REDD+ integration into land use sectors driving deforestation has received little attention. We assess the potential of the organisational arrangements of the Cameroonian REDD+ scheme to support sectoral integration. We draw on analysis of documentary material and conceptual literature on organisational structures for environmental integration, which distinguishes horizontal and vertical integration mechanisms with distinct features and potentials to foster integration. Our analysis reveals that the Cameroonian REDD+ scheme chaired by the environmental department and featuring a multisectoral steering committee aligns with horizontal integration. Such arrangements would infuse the REDD+ mechanism with the technical expertise of the leading department, but expose REDD+ integration to sectoral resistance and funding challenges because of the limited institutional leverage of the environmental department. The organisational reforms proposed by the national REDD+ strategy featuring the Prime Minister's leadership of the REDD+ process might enhance political support for REDD+ integration, but could expose REDD+ development to the vagaries of political shifts. We propose a hybrid organisational arrangement combining horizontal and vertical integration mechanisms, with the potential to minimise their respective weaknesses, maximise their strengths, and enhance REDD+ integration into land-use sectors. We recommend further feasibility analyses into the applicability of the proposed arrangement to other settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"34 6","pages":"740-753"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141508467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The climate change adaptation readiness of co-operative housing in Nova Scotia, Canada","authors":"Zacharie D. Carriere, Alexandra Lesnikowski","doi":"10.1002/eet.2116","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eet.2116","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Climate adaptation policy in Canada is emerging in the context of another major challenge: the diminishing availability of affordable housing. Housing is a well-known driver of social vulnerability to environmental risks, so as governments respond to these challenges, it will be essential to understand how housing is being situated within adaptation, particularly with respect to differences in housing tenure and how decisions around equity and social vulnerability are factored into planning and policy processes. This research examines how adaptation plans and policies in Nova Scotia are addressing the needs of the non-profit co-operative housing sector and assesses the adaptation readiness of housing co-operatives in the province. Two methods are employed: a systematic content analysis of municipal and provincial climate policy documents, and interviews with key informants across the co-operative housing sector and government agencies. Using a modified adaptation readiness framework, we consider the potential for co-operative adaptation and complimentary public policy to address vulnerability at the intersection of housing and climate change. Findings indicate that non-market forms of tenure have been largely neglected by adaptation planners and state policymakers. Several barriers which contribute to a low level of adaptation readiness for co-ops are highlighted, notably a lack of usable science and funding to facilitate adaptation. Characteristics such as affordability and a propensity for collective action position housing co-ops to be agents of equitable and systemic adaptation, but this potential will only be realized in Canada if key barriers are overcome through targeted governmental rt for non-profit housing organizations.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"34 6","pages":"724-739"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.2116","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141508468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"What determines how governance indicators shape policy processes? Evidence from three environmental issues in India","authors":"Pradeep Guin, B. Rajeshwari, Bhavayta Mahajan","doi":"10.1002/eet.2117","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eet.2117","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Governance indicators influence and shape policy processes. The need for exploring how governance indicators lead to efficient policy responses is a long-drawn debate in the field of policy studies. While existing literature is mostly from developed world, there is a dearth of empirical evidence from developing countries like India. As cities continue to remain the fulcrum of economic growth despite the much-argued development model practised across India, it remains to be seen how governance indicators determine policy processes in cities. Adapting United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific's (UNESCAP's) module on eight governance indicators we studied the policy process of three diverse climate change-linked environmental issues - air pollution, dengue, and extreme heat, from three urban Indian metropolis - Delhi, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad, respectively. We used a semi-structured questionnaire to interview 33 stakeholders. We coded interview findings and formulated a color-coded matrix to highlight the importance of governance indicators by environmental issues. Transparency, accountability and participation played an important role in shaping policy processes. The importance of other governance indicators varied due to diversity in administrative structures across three cities. Our study's findings highlight a complex relationship between governance indicators and policy processes linked to the environmental issues. Our study shows that the relevance of governance indicators in shaping policies around environmental issues is determined by the nature of the environmental issue and the structure of governance. In addition, our study adds four new indicators, <i>governance structures, capacity building</i>, <i>informality,</i> and <i>gender-inclusivity</i>, which influence policy processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"34 6","pages":"691-708"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141336951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Local authority engagement with small and medium-sized enterprises in energy efficiency: Governance approaches used in the Energy Efficient Scotland programme","authors":"Katherine Sugar, Faye Wade, Janette Webb","doi":"10.1002/eet.2119","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eet.2119","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Meeting net zero emissions targets requires co-operation of multiple actors across scales and sectors, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); research on action by SMEs to improve energy efficiency of their buildings has however been limited. This article focuses on the work of local authorities in engaging SMEs in energy efficiency initiatives. Empirical findings are from systematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with local authorities participating in the <i>Energy Efficient Scotland</i> pilot programme for national scale retrofit. The modes of governance conceptual framework (self-governing, governing by partnership, governing through enabling, governing by provision and governing by authority) is combined with a local government capacities framework (responsibility, political authority, finance, personnel, knowledge and energy materialities) to explore the different strategies available to local authorities. Findings reveal that local authorities utilise various modes of governing for engaging SMEs; however some governing modes (self-governing, governing through authority and governing through provision) proved more effective than others (governing through partnership and through enabling). The results demonstrate that the modes of governance used to engage SMEs in energy efficiency depend on local authority capacities. However, Scottish local authority capacities are varied, resulting in differential ability to utilise the different modes of governing. Government policy for heat in buildings therefore needs to be sensitive to the specificities of different local authorities in order to extend their capacities for engage SMEs through both direct and enabling modes of governance.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"34 6","pages":"709-723"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.2119","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141337606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andi Zhuang, Arie Stoffelen, Erik Meijles, Peter Groote
{"title":"The complex governance of protected areas: Insights from geoheritage and geopark management in China","authors":"Andi Zhuang, Arie Stoffelen, Erik Meijles, Peter Groote","doi":"10.1002/eet.2118","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eet.2118","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Geoparks aim to conserve areas of geological significance and achieve sustainable endogenous regional development via geotourism. The management of geoparks requires the involvement of all relevant stakeholders and authorities. However, the strategies when establishing geoparks are often based on the visions of scientists and policymakers. Other stakeholders, such as local residents, often have relatively limited opportunities to become involved in the identification and communication of geoheritage values. Yet, across different social contexts, people's attitudes toward heritage may manifest differently. This adds to the complexity of building cohesive partnerships among stakeholders with the common goal of sustainable development. With a qualitative study of Zhangjiajie UNESCO Global Geopark in China, which has attracted considerable attention due to the conflicts between tourism development and heritage conservation, we aim to understand how the concept of geoheritage is institutionalized in the management of the geopark. Data were collected through interviews with government officials at different levels and various local tourism practitioners, supplemented by a policy document analysis. Results show that geoheritage management in Zhangjiajie Geopark lacked dynamism and inclusivity. The reason was the presence of dissonant understandings among various authorities regarding what constitutes geoheritage. These dissonant understandings were not negotiated strategically because of the embedding of the geopark in a highly convoluted multi-level governance system related to natural resource management and tourism. The findings underscore that geoheritage research should shift away from an objectivist understanding of geoheritage. Perceiving geoheritage as a power-loaded construct transforms our comprehension of geopark management dynamics.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"34 6","pages":"679-690"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.2118","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141343524","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}