Sustainable Development in Energy Policy: A Governance Assessment of Environmental Stakeholder Inclusion in Waste‐to‐Energy

Abstract

The inclusion of environmental interest groups in policy-making is said to provide greater legitimacy (Bernauer and Gampfer, 2013), accountability (Feldman and Blokov, 2009), new policy preferences (Bunea, 2013) and, ultimately, pro-environmental outcomes (Bohmelt and Betzold, 2013). This paper focuses on the development of inclusive governance structures and processes (with regard to environmental interests) in waste-toenergy policy designed to facilitate pro-environmental outcomes in the generation of 'clean' renewable energy within the national context of France. Empirically, the paper argues that change in long-term exclusionary patterns in energy policy remains enduringly weak. Normatively, environmental 'inclusivity' (i.e. the construction of meaningful pluralistic structures and processes) as a mechanism for achieving the prioritization of environmental concerns should become a central objective for energy policy, and more generally in the environmental policy integration literature.

The impact of technological innovation and public‐private partnership investment on sustainable environment in China: Consumption‐based carbon emissions analysis

“…The significant intervention from the private agents and government can help to correct environmental issues (McCauley, 2015).…”

Energy justice and policy change: An historical political analysis of the German nuclear phase-out

“…We contribute historical policy analysis as a means for assessing energy justice in the context of policy change [19,44,[49][50][51]. Its analytical focus is centered on identifying major shocks to a policy system -known as critical junctures [18] -and then assessing how effective policy actors are in exploiting these opportunities -known as 'agents of change' or 'change agents' [19].…”

“…Critical junctures and change agents are dominant ideas in historical policy analysis, or historical institutionalism [19,44,[49][50][51]. It is "historical because it recognises that political development must be understood as process that unfolds over time" [53: 29].…”

Political Parties' Rhetoric Signaling of Sustainable Development

“…More specifically, the direct observation of policy delivery is hampered by the sustainability characteristics of process orientation, simultaneity in goal attainment and a long time horizon. Failure in policy delivery is, for example, a robust finding of studies on environmental policy integration, which requires that environmental considerations should be included in other policy areas with a view to attaining the goal of sustainable development (see Connelly, ; Lafferty and Hovden, ; Jordan and Lenschow, ; McCauley, ; Tosun and Solorio, ).…”