Corruption Risks in Renewable Resource Governance: Case Studies in Iceland and Romania

Abstract

<p>In this research, we attempt to shed light on the question of where corruption risks in the governance of renewable resources are located and how they have been addressed in European countries that have different levels of corruption. A comparative case study design was chosen, looking into the fisheries sector in Iceland and the forestry sector in Romania. We conducted 25 semi-structured interviews with various stakeholders sampled through a snowball method. Qualitative coding and systems analysis were used to analyse the interviews. The results indicate that comprehensive and ambitious legislation does not necessarily translate into successful resource governance systems. In general, the institutions that were put in place to enforce and monitor the legal codes and regulations did not have the capacity to carry out their role. Additionally, interviewees were generally found to have a widespread perception of there being a corrupt relationship between politics and big companies operating in their sectors. Our findings suggest that when people hold such perceptions, it undermines anti-corruption policy efforts in the resource sectors, which can then impede sustainable resource management.</p>

Corruption Control in the Developed World

“…If corruption is perceived as systemic and if, on the other hand, corruption control is perceived as selective, the effectiveness of integrity enforcement and the rational calculations of all agents involved will be negatively affected. That this might be the case even in otherwise very different countries (also in terms of the corruption perception index that characterizes them) is further confirmed by the article by Gisladottir, Sigurgeirsdottir, Stjernquist, and Ragnarsdottir (2020) who study the corrupt practices that surround the management of the fishing and timber sectors in Iceland and Romania, respectively. The loops that describe the management of these two economically crucial sectors-that hinge upon renewable, but also depletable, resources-are not identical in terms of the incentives and perceptions that they create but lead to surprisingly similar phenomena.…”

Transparency and Leverage Points for Sustainable Resource Management

“…However, DoF rulings can also be appealed to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries [61]. Stakeholders in the sector who were interviewed in this study widely considered that the DoF did not have the resources to make effective use of the accountability mechanisms available to it [62].…”

“…Perceived opportunities for measures, including underreporting fish weight, cheating on icing percentage or discarding of bycatch, were not considered to be well documented. Lack of observer coverage were cited as reasons for scrutinizing the reported catch data, as the DoF was generally perceived to lack the ability to carry out its role of monitoring and enforcing regulations [62]. Additionally, issues regarding catch recommendations by the MRFI were often brought up by interviewees.…”

Corruption Control, Renewable-led Energy Transition and Carbon Emissions: Empirical Evidence from Panel Data of Multi-countries

“…Corruption is seen as one of the biggest threats to effective climate action and a major obstacle to the global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy (Oniango, 2020). The threat of corruption to renewable energy is not only rampant in developing countries and emerging markets, but even in advanced economies such as Italy (Gennaioli and Tavoni, 2016) and Iceland (Gisladottir et al, 2020), the risk of corruption in the renewable energy sector is difficult to avoid. Additionally, only when the total, direct and indirect effects are significant and the corresponding numerical conditions are met, can the conduction paths of corruption control, energy transition and carbon emissions be considered to be unimpeded.…”

“…Resource-intensive and capital-intensive industries are often hard hit by corruption (Kolstad, et al, 2008). The energy sector is resource-intensive and capital-intensive, so it is easy to imagine the endless corruption cases (Gisladottir et al, 2020). For example, in China, many of the most egregious cases of corruption have occurred in the energy sector, which has not only caused serious economic losses, but also harmed environmental governance and improvement (Hao et al, 2020).…”