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Gearing-up governance for sustainable development: Patterns of policy appraisal in UK central government

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  • Duncan Russel
  • Andrew Jordan

Abstract

The UK is reportedly an international leader in the application of environmental policy appraisal (EPA). From the late 1980s until 2004, UK central government sought to produce ex ante assessments of the potential environmental impacts of different policy options. Critics maintain that EPA had a very limited impact on policy-making activities in Whitehall departments. However, the empirical basis for these claims is surprisingly thin. This paper seeks to better understand what facilitated or retarded EPA by looking at its use in Whitehall, with the aim being to draw lessons for the UK's new and more integrated appraisal regime, as well as similar systems in the European Union. The paper finds that the implementation of EPA was both weak and highly sectorised, and that there is an underlying resistance to policy appraisal per se in Whitehall. These weaknesses urgently need to be addressed otherwise new systems of integrated appraisal will not deliver what is expected of them.

Suggested Citation

  • Duncan Russel & Andrew Jordan, 2007. "Gearing-up governance for sustainable development: Patterns of policy appraisal in UK central government," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(1), pages 1-21.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jenpmg:v:50:y:2007:i:1:p:1-21
    DOI: 10.1080/09640560601048267
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
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    Cited by:

    1. John Turnpenny & Duncan Russel & Andrew Jordan, 2014. "The Challenge of Embedding an Ecosystem Services Approach: Patterns of Knowledge Utilisation in Public Policy Appraisal," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 32(2), pages 247-262, April.
    2. Camilla Adelle & Andrew Jordan & John Turnpenny, 2012. "Proceeding in Parallel or Drifting Apart? A Systematic Review of Policy Appraisal Research and Practices," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 30(3), pages 401-415, June.
    3. Banzhaf, H. Spencer, 2009. "Economics at the Fringe: Non-Market Valuation Studies and their Role in Land Use Plans in the United States," MPRA Paper 101193, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Tony Jackson, 2010. "Environmental Policy under New Labour," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 25(5-6), pages 510-522, August.
    5. Duncan Russel & John Turnpenny & Andrew Jordan, 2018. "Mainstreaming the environment through appraisal: Integrative governance or logics of disintegration?," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 36(8), pages 1355-1370, December.
    6. Backlund, Ann-Katrin & Adamowicz, Mieczyslaw & Jozefecka, Magdalena & Macombe, Catherine & Zemek, F., 2007. "An Institutional Analysis of European Systems for Impact Assessment," Reports 57471, Wageningen University, SEAMLESS: System for Environmental and Agricultural Modelling; Linking European Science and Society.

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