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Understanding the Paradoxes of Multilevel Governing: Climate Change Policy in the European Union

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Jordan

    (Andrew Jordan is Professor of Environmental Politics in the Tyndall Centre, School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.)

  • Harro van Asselt

    (Harro van Asselt is a Research Fellow with the Stockholm Environment Institute, as well as a Visiting Research Associate at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, and a PhD researcher with the Institute for Environmental Studies of the VU University Amsterdam.)

  • Frans Berkhout

    (Frans Berkhout is Professor of Innovation and Sustainability, and Director of the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at the VU University and the Amsterdam Global Change Institute (AGCI) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.)

  • Dave Huitema

    (Dave Huitema is Associate Professor Environmental Policy at the Institute for Environmental Studies at the VU University Amsterdam.)

  • Tim Rayner

    (Tim Rayner is the Senior Research Associate at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.)

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has sought to lead the world in the adoption of ambitious climate change mitigation targets and policies. In an attempt to characterize and broadly explain the resulting pattern of EU climate governance, scholars have employed the term “multi-level reinforcement.” This term does help to account for the paradoxical situation whereby the EU seeks to lead by example but is itself a relatively leaderless system of governance. Drawing on a much fuller empirical account of the evolution of EU climate governance, this article finds that the term captures some but not all aspects of the EU's approach. It identifies four other paradoxical features of the EU's approach and assesses the extent to which they exhibit “multi-level reinforcement.” It concludes by looking forward and examining the extent to which all five features are expected to enable and/or constrain the EU's ability to maintain a leading position in climate governance. © 2012 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Jordan & Harro van Asselt & Frans Berkhout & Dave Huitema & Tim Rayner, 2012. "Understanding the Paradoxes of Multilevel Governing: Climate Change Policy in the European Union," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 12(2), pages 43-66, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:12:y:2012:i:2:p:43-66
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Fabio Zagonari, 2018. "Coherence, Causality, and Effectiveness of the EU Environmental Policy System: Results of Complementary Statistical and Econometric Analyses," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 70(1), pages 1-29, May.
    2. Min-Ta Chuang, 2019. "Multi-Conflicts between the Government, the Non-Profit Organisation and the People after a Serious Landslide Disaster Based Upon Qualitative Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-12, April.
    3. Mats Braun, 2014. "EU Climate Norms in East-Central Europe," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 445-460, May.
    4. Byeongho Lim & Kyoungseo Hong & Jooyoung Yoon & Jeong-In Chang & Inkyo Cheong, 2021. "Pitfalls of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-18, November.
    5. Jørgen Wettestad & Lars H. Gulbrandsen, 2022. "On the Process of Including Shipping in EU Emissions Trading: Multi-Level Reinforcement Revisited," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(1), pages 246-255.
    6. Harriet Bulkeley & Andy Jordan, 2012. "Guest Editorial," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 30(4), pages 556-570, August.
    7. Diarmuid Torney, 2014. "External Perceptions and EU Foreign Policy Effectiveness: The Case of Climate Change," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(6), pages 1358-1373, November.
    8. Winfried Osthorst, 2020. "Tensions in Urban Transitions. Conceptualizing Conflicts in Local Climate Policy Arrangements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.
    9. Jakob Skovgaard, 2013. "The Limits of Entrapment: The Negotiations on EU Reduction Targets, 2007–11," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(6), pages 1141-1157, November.
    10. David J. Gordon, 2015. "An Uneasy Equilibrium: The Coordination of Climate Governance in Federated Systems," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 15(2), pages 121-141, May.
    11. Aurélie Méjean & Franck Lecocq & Yacob Mulugetta, 2015. "Equity, burden sharing and development pathways: reframing international climate negotiations," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 387-402, November.
    12. Charles F. Parker & Christer Karlsson, 2017. "The European Union as a global climate leader: confronting aspiration with evidence," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 445-461, August.
    13. Kate J. Neville & Glen Coulthard, 2019. "Transformative Water Relations: Indigenous Interventions in Global Political Economies," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 19(3), pages 1-15, August.
    14. Van Passel, S. & Vanschoenwinkel, J. & Moretti, M., 2018. "The effect of policy leveraging climate change adaptive capacity in agriculture," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277059, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Christoph Clar & Reinhard Steurer, 2019. "Climate change adaptation at different levels of government: Characteristics and conditions of policy change," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(2), pages 121-131, May.
    16. Ekaterina Domorenok & Giuseppe Acconcia & Lena Bendlin & Xira Ruiz Campillo, 2020. "Experiments in EU Climate Governance: The Unfulfilled Potential of the Covenant of Mayors," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(4), pages 122-142, Autumn.
    17. F. Zagonari, 2015. "Coherence, efficiency, and independence of the EU environmental policy system: results of complementary statistical and econometric analyses," Working Papers wp992, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    18. Chelminski, K., 2018. "Harnessing the Ring of Fire: Political economy of clean energy development finance on geothermal development in Indonesia and the Philippines," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1804, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    climate change; environmental politics; European Union;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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