the Swedish sustainable development strategy and the national environmental quality objectives

This paper compares the respective contributions of the Swedish sustainable development strategy (SDS) and the country’s National Environmental Quality Objectives (NEQOs) in establishing what Steurer and Martinuzzi (2005) refer to as “strategic public management”, an ideal model of what an effective governance framework for promoting sustainable development might look like. Key elements of strategic public management that are considered are the facilitation of policy learning, horizontal and vertical policy integration and the meaningful engagement of relevant non-governmental stakeholders. The paper identifies the central achievements and challenges of the SDS and the NEQOs in establishing these central elements of strategic public management in practice. In this context, it also addresses how these two governance instruments have faired in tackling some of the past shortcomings of sustainable development strategies in delivering an effective framework for strategic public management, resulting in the “administered strategies” described in Steurer (2008). It argues that the NEQOs’ relative success in influencing policy making processes in Sweden is linked to its strong political and institutional foundation as compared to the comparatively weak political mandate and low level of institutionalization of the SDS. Among other things, it relates this to the different political processes leading to the establishment of the two instruments. Despite the achievements of the NEQOs, however, the paper also identifies important challenges for leveraging the NEQOs' strong monitoring system for shaping concrete policy making processes and engaging stakeholders. Based on these insights, the paper concludes with a discussion on the future potential of the NEQOs and the SDS as frameworks for strategic public management in Sweden and draws more general lessons for the establishment of more effective governance frameworks for sustainable development

Multi-level reinforcement in European climate and energy governance: mobilizing economic interests at the sub-national levels

This article explains the relatively successful performance of the European Union (EU) in climate and energy governance by two factors: (1) multi-level reinforcement and (2) the mobilization of economic interests at different levels of governance through low-carbon industrial policy. The article adds to the literature by further developing existing arguments on multi-level reinforcement in climate and energy policy. We stress the point that economic co-benefits of climate protection have been successfully mobilized at all levels of governance, including the sub-national level, in recent times. This is illustrated by examples from pioneer countries as well as laggards and waverers in terms of national climate and energy policy. While it is far from certain whether the EU will indeed deliver the needed CO2 reductions to reach its internationally agreed targets, this paper, nevertheless, highlights why the EU system of climate governance remains relatively robust in light of the various challenges it currently faces

A Dynamic Analysis of Technological Innovation Systems for Solar Photovoltaics in Germany and China

Based on a system of innovation (SI) perspective, this paper provides a dynamic analysis of innovation and industrial development in the emerging global solar energy sector. It focuses on developments in China and Germany within the context of an evolving international technological innovation system (TIS) for solar photovoltaics. The TIS approach is the most suitable for analyzing innovation systems in emergent technology fields, as it explicitly captures the dynamics of change in the system (Jacobsson & Bergek 2011). However, to date, the approach has been applied to analyze national TIS, largely ignoring international influences (Coenen et al. 2012). To fill this gap in the literature, the paper adapts and applies the TIS framework for the analysis of a co-evolving TIS. This is different from a purely international perspective, as manifested in the sectoral system of innovation (SSI) approach. The SSI approach may be appropriate for the analysis of more established innovation systems, where structures, actors and institutions are more stable (Coenen & Díaz López 2010). An emergent global TIS, however, remains highly susceptible to (policy) developments occurring in individual countries. To capture these dynamics, the concept of a multi-level TIS is proposed. This acknowledges that a global TIS is composed of a number of sub- systems (i.e. TIS) at the national and sub-national levels, which retain a certain degree of autonomy. At the same time, actors and networks are frequently not limited to a single geographic scale, as has been acknowledged in relational approaches to economic geography (Bathelt & Gluckler 2003; Yeung 2005). They may entertain linkages across multiple scales, often drawing on a physical presence in different localities. Such linkages allow developments in national (or sub-national) TIS to exert influences upon each other. The paper draws on this adapted version of the TIS concept to frame the empirical analysis of an evolving global TIS in solar photovoltaics. Building on a slightly expanded version of the system functions outlined by Bergek et al. (2008), the paper then traces the dynamic inter-linkages between Germany and China, as they have represented the most important drivers of change during the most dynamic period of TIS development. It sheds new light on the process of industry development and technological change in the emergent TIS for solar photovoltaics and highlights how different system functions have been provided throughout this process (considering third countries where appropriate) and how they have shifted geographically as the international TIS has matured

frameworks and methods for impact assessment

This study provides an overview of existing approaches and methods for assessing the environmental impacts of trade and trade-related activities. It considers both approaches that are tailored to the assessment of trade- environment linkages and more generic approaches for environmental assessment and analyzes their respective usability in the context of trade-related development cooperation. The study thereby aims to contribute to a more extensive use of such tools, while improving the practice and application of environmental assessments of trade-related policies and programs. In doing so, the study will complement the existing study on the assessment of the socio- economic impacts from trade carried out by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI)1. The study is divided into two parts. Part I begins with a brief discussion on trade-related development cooperation followed by a short overview of the debate on trade, development and the environment. Next it provides an overview of existing approaches to conceptualizing environmental impacts from trade-related activities. After this, it provides a general introduction to impact assessment (IA) and the assessment of environmental impacts in this context. It closes with a brief overview of the assessment of environmental aspects in German development cooperation. Part II provides a more detailed review of existing frameworks and methods for assessing the environmental impacts from trade-related policies and programs

Studying the Transition towards a Circular Bioeconomy—A Systematic Literature Review on Transition Studies and Existing Barriers

The European Commission’s strategic long-term vision for 2050, “A Clean Planet for All”, identifies the bioeconomy and the circular economy as key strategic areas for achieving a climate-neutral economy. Focus is given to the sustainability of biomass and the circularity of materials. However, in order to facilitate the transition toward a sustainable bio-based circular economy and to unlock its potential, strong accompanying measures are required. These should be designed based on a systematic understanding of transition drivers and barriers. This paper, after providing a systematic review of transition research on the circular bioeconomy, focuses on the identification and classification of transition barriers, clustering them into relevant categories. Moreover, it provides a comparison of the barriers identified by various frameworks.BMBF, 031B0781B, Bioökonomie als gesellschaftlicher Wandel, Modul 2 (2): BioTOP - Transformationsorientierte Innovationspolitik in der Bioökonomie - Stand, Potenziale und Strategien, TP TU BerlinTU Berlin, Open-Access-Mittel – 202

A Tale of Two Paces

After decades of economic expansion, largely at the expense of environmental quality, new trends in environmental governance are taking shape in Asia. This paper analyses these developments in China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia. It finds that environmental governance within a “traditional” agenda of environmental protection remains severely hampered by capacity constraints. Simultaneously, all four countries have embarked on ambitious policy initiatives to address climate change and promote clean technologies, signaling an important shift in national priorities. The paper discusses possible implications of these trends, sketching possible scenarios for the further development of environmental governance

Policy strategies for a transition to a bioeconomy in Europe: the case of Italy and Germany

Grand societal challenges call for a transition from a society based on finite fossil resources towards a bio-based economy, based on renewable resources. Such a transition should involve not only the energy sector, but also the manufacturing sector. As acknowledged in the European Bioeconomy Strategy, the promotion of a bioeconomy is dependent on policy efforts across a wide spectrum of policy spheres. In the literature on sustainability transitions, this insight is captured in the increasing interest in the concept of policy mixes or policy strategies for promoting transitions to more sustainable modes of production and consumption. In this paper, we present a comparative analysis of bioeconomy strategies in Germany and Italy with a focus on the bioplastics sector. The paper adds to the existing literature on policy mixes by extending the concept of a policy strategy and applying it for the purpose of the comparative analysis. Moreover, the analysis is linked to the discussion on multi-level systems of governance in the European Union. A key finding is that linkages between the two policy strategies via policy making within the European Union have helped in reinforcing the nascent transition to a bio-based economy in Europe

Policy strategies for a transition to a bioeconomy in Europe: the case of Italy and Germany

Grand societal challenges call for a transition from a society based on finite fossil resources towards a bio-based economy, based on renewable resources. Such a transition should involve not only the energy sector, but also the manufacturing sector. As acknowledged in the European Bioeconomy Strategy, the promotion of a bioeconomy is dependent on policy efforts across a wide spectrum of policy spheres. In the literature on sustainability transitions, this insight is captured in the increasing interest in the concept of policy mixes or policy strategies for promoting transitions to more sustainable modes of production and consumption. In this paper, we present a comparative analysis of bioeconomy strategies in Germany and Italy with a focus on the bioplastics sector. The paper adds to the existing literature on policy mixes by extending the concept of a policy strategy and applying it for the purpose of the comparative analysis. Moreover, the analysis is linked to the discussion on multi-level systems of governance in the European Union. A key finding is that linkages between the two policy strategies via policy making within the European Union have helped in reinforcing the nascent transition to a bio-based economy in Europe

D4.4 Regulation action plan

The bioeconomy is a new market field that was not considered when most of the existing regula-tions were drafted in several areas, including, for example, regulations on the end-of-life (EOL) stage of plastics. Consequentially, even though an EU bioeconomy strategy exists, a coherent and coor-dinated policy framework is still missing1. In addition, the lack of necessary mechanisms (e.g. regu-lative carbon pricing) and the fact that existing policies and standards are mostly based only on fossil-based products (e.g. existing EOL schemes are focused on fossil-based products and do not consider bio-based counterparts) are hampering the development of the bioeconomy