Understanding the paradoxes of multi-level governing: Climate change policy in the European Union

Jordan, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7678-1024, van Asselt, Harro, Berkhout, Frans, Huitema, Dave and Rayner, Tim (2012) Understanding the paradoxes of multi-level governing: Climate change policy in the European Union. Global Environmental Politics, 12 (2). pp. 43-66. ISSN 1536-0091

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Abstract

The European Union (EU) has sought to lead the world in the adoption of ambitious climate change mitigation targets and policies. In an attempt to characterize and broadly explain the resulting pattern of EU climate governance, scholars have employed the term “multi-level reinforcement.” This term does help to account for the paradoxical situation whereby the EU seeks to lead by example but is itself a relatively leaderless system of governance. Drawing on a much fuller empirical account of the evolution of EU climate governance, this article finds that the term captures some but not all aspects of the EU’s approach. It identifies four other paradoxical features of the EU’s approach and assesses the extent to which they exhibit “multi-level reinforcement.” It concludes by looking forward and examining the extent to which all five features are expected to enable and/or constrain the EU’s ability to maintain a leading position.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: sdg 13 - climate action ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups: University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Science, Society and Sustainability
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Social Sciences
Depositing User: Andy Jordan
Date Deposited: 14 Apr 2012 21:11
Last Modified: 13 Apr 2023 13:31
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/38470
DOI: 10.1162/GLEP_a_00108

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