Really a front-runner, really a Straggler? Of environmental leaders and laggards in the European Union and beyond — A quantitative policy perspective

Knill, Christoph; Heichel, Stephan; Arndt, Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2012.04.043

Cited by 55 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This group of countries is headed by Italy (with a ratio of 14.355), followed by Germany (6.971) and Austria (7.185). Among the countries with an average level of intensity in terms of registration, Finland and Denmark stand out for their relative weight in the EMAS register of polluting industries e two countries considered to be frontrunners in environmental issues (Vogel, 2003;Knill et al, 2012) and which have ratios of 15.775and 12.371 respectively.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The uneven dissemination of EMS standards may also reflect the cross-national variations of regulatory politics and policies within the EU (Vogel, 2003;Knill et al, 2012;Steger et al, 2002;Glachant et al, 2002). Although the adoption of the EMAS system is supposed to be voluntary, some states may implement policy instruments to encourage the diffusion of this standard.…”

Section: Literature Review and Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 96%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Exploring the dissemination of environmental certifications in high and low polluting industries

Saizarbitoria

Arana

Boiral

2015

Journal of Cleaner Production

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Review and Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Exploring the dissemination of environmental certifications in high and low polluting industries

Saizarbitoria

Arana

Boiral

2015

Journal of Cleaner Production

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…We provide a comparative overview of the EU-15 Member States because they accepted binding climate change mitigation targets under the Kyoto Protocol through the EU's effort-sharing agreement from 1998 (Haug & Jordan, 2010, p. 86; see Table 2). Moreover, the EU-15 provides an interesting variance of leaders and laggards in the formulation and implementation of environmental policies (Knill, Heichel, & Arndt, 2012). Methodologically, this article builds on desk research that draws on scholarly works (including policy analyses and evaluations), documents issued by international and supranational organizations (mainly guidelines and progress reports), national governments (strategies, plans, and legal acts; see Appendix 1), and other public agencies (mainly reports from auditors).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bookkeeping rather than climate policy making: national mitigation strategies in Western Europe

Casado‐Asensio

Steurer

2015

Climate Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate change mitigation is a wicked problem that cuts horizontally across sectors and vertically across levels of government. To address it effectively, governments around the world, in particular in the EU, have developed several generations of multi-sectoral national mitigation strategies (NMS) since the early 1990s. Although NMS became the main effort to systematically coordinate mitigation policies, few works have studied them comparatively so far. The present article fills this gap by analysing how the EU-15 group of countries operationalized climate protection through NMS. First, we introduce the three roles policy strategies usually aim to fulfil: besides being policy documents they also represent governance processes (supposed to coordinate sectoral implementation), and capacity-building efforts. Empirically, we then explore the rationale, origins and prevalence of NMS. Subsequently, we characterize them as policy documents (with regards to their contents and structures) and as governance processes that address capacity building only implicitly. Based on existing assessments we finally review some performance indications of NMS. We find that in particular second-and third-generation NMS aimed to take their governance function seriously but resembled 'lacklustre bookkeeping' of emissions, targets and mitigation options. Instead of approximating NMS towards their obviously overcharging governance function, we suggest to recalibrate them towards their communication and capacitybuilding function in a way that goes beyond bookkeeping. Policy relevanceThe present article shows that NMS fail to effectively govern climate change mitigation across a broad range of sectoral policy domains. Since most European countries have adopted not one but up to three generations of NMS since the 1990s, this finding is highly relevant for them -and for all others aiming to adopt similarly broad strategies. Instead of piling one strategy on top of another irrespective of their implementation, and instead of abolishing mitigation strategies altogether, we recommend recalibrating them towards what they can realistically accomplish: effective communication and capacity building so that NMS can advance from lacklustre bookkeeping to actively promoting a government-wide climate change mitigation vision. The article can help governments to realise that renewing integrated strategies such as NMS without overhauling them comes close to flogging a dead horse.

show abstract

“…Introduction E NVIRONMENTAL FRONTRUNNERS, LEADERS AND PIONEERS -STATES THAT EFFECTUATE AND PURSUE STRINGENT AND innovative environmental policy and action that intentionally or unintentionally provides examples for others to follow (Knill et al, 2012) have been of interest in environmental policy studies since the 1970s. Early research envisaged a 'race to the bottom' in which poorly performing countries would force others to reduce their environmental ambitions to maintain their competitive power on the global market.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous pioneering countries (e.g. the United States and Japan) have over time given up this strategy in favour of other political priorities (Jänicke, 2005;Liefferink et al, 2009;Knill et al, 2012).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Green Star Fading? A Critical Assessment of Swedish Environmental Policy Change

Hysing

2014

Env Pol Gov

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Frontrunner states have been shown to be highly important for the development and diffusion of progressive environmental policies. History shows, however, that frontrunner status is dynamic and that previous leader countries have become laggards. Here I assess recent policy changes in Swedena state widely recognized as an environmental frontrunnerarguing that environmental policy practice within areas prioritized by the Government (biodiversity, sustainable energy, the marine environment and climate change) has experienced high-profile, and from a green perspective highly controversial policy changes. This policy development raises critical concerns for the future role of Sweden as an environmental frontrunner.

show abstract

Really a front-runner, really a Straggler? Of environmental leaders and laggards in the European Union and beyond — A quantitative policy perspective

Cited by 55 publications

References 22 publications

Exploring the dissemination of environmental certifications in high and low polluting industries

Exploring the dissemination of environmental certifications in high and low polluting industries

Bookkeeping rather than climate policy making: national mitigation strategies in Western Europe

A Green Star Fading? A Critical Assessment of Swedish Environmental Policy Change

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About