Sustainable development in energy policy : a governance assessment of environmental stakeholder inclusion in waste-to-energy

The author would like to think the British Academy for a generous grant on WtE in France.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-to-energy 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.PostprintPeer reviewe

Framing injustice in green criminology : activism, social movements and geography

Injustice is perceived, experienced and articulated. Social movements, and their constitutive parts, frame and re-frame these senses of injustice. Two often-overlapping accounts of social movements are in focus in this chapter. Human geography has been flooded with movement-based analyses of environmental justice (EJ). Sociology (more appropriately political sociology) has provided insight into social movements in the form of ‘contentious politics’ (CP). Building on both sets of literature, this chapter seeks to advance thought in human geography through a detailed exploration of master and collective action framing. It argues, firstly, that framing analysis challenges activist researchers to retain ‘spatial constructs’ as their central focus, rather than discourse. It calls, secondly, for us to unbind injustice as much as justice in our analysis of framing. And lastly, it demands a multi-spatial perspective on framing beyond simply scalar accounts.PostprintPeer reviewe

The policy challenge of waste-to-energy : lessons from France

National policy-making is increasingly re-orienting towards the common goal of achieving effective renewable energy solutions. This paper focuses on the policy challenges of technological advances in energy recovery from waste designed to facilitate the generation of ‘clean’ renewable energy on a national scale. France is now a world leader in the promotion of this ‘new’ energy solution. The sustainability of the French approach to waste-to-energy is however threatened by its failure to successfully incorporate and engage with societal input. An assessment of policy structures reveals a crippling division between anti-incineration attitudes expressed in waste management and support displayed in energy policy making.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Just transition:Integrating climate, energy and environmental justice

In terms of funders, we thank the ESRC (ES/I001425/1) and EPSRC (EP/I035390/1) and UKERC (http://www.ukerc.ac.uk/news/whole-systems-networking-fund-project-announcement.html) for supporting the development of our work in this area.Just transition is a new framework of analysis that brings together climate, energy and environmental justice scholarships. It was originally coined as a term that was designed to link the promotion of clean technology with the assurance of green jobs. The Paris climate change agreement marks a global acceptance that a more rapid transition is needed to avert disastrous consequences. In response, climate, energy and environmental justice scholarships must unite in assessing where injustices will emerge and how they should be tackled. Just transition offers a new space for developing an interdisciplinary transition sensitive approach to exploring and promoting (1) distributional, (2) procedural and (3) restorative justice, termed here as a new triumvirate of tenets.PostprintPeer reviewe

Energy security, equality and justice

PostprintPeer reviewe

Security, justice and the energy crossroads : assessing the implications of the nuclear phase-out in Germany

The authors would like to thank the EPSRC for their grant (EP/I035390/1) on which this work was conducted.The nuclear melt-down in Fukushima resulted in diverging energy policy decisions across the world where Germany decided to opt out of nuclear electricity production. Yet, the government’s decision-making framework for energy policy decisions does not accurately reflect important drivers for the strategy change. This paper presents the Energy Crossroads framework as a more comprehensive tool to analyse the drivers and impacts of the nuclear phase-out. 20 expert interviews were performed across business participants as well as policy makers in the national and international energy context. Results show that Germany has adopted an environmental justice, rather than energy security, stance in their nuclear phase out policy, with significant long-term consequences.PostprintPeer reviewe

EU civil society : patterns of cooperation, competition and conflict

Edited by H. Johansson and S. Kalm (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, ISBN 9781137282309); xvi+273pp., £65.00 pb.PostprintPeer reviewe