Miranda A. Schreurs

From the Bottom Up Local and Subnational Climate Change Politics

This article introduces this special issue that deals with subnational (and, in the case of the European Union, sub-supranational) global climate change politics. While recognizing the limitations that face local governments, the article discusses the importance of focusing more attention on climate policies and programs of state (prefectural, provincial), regional, metropolitan, and local levels of government, where implementation of national climate change policies and programs must occur. Four cases are examined in detail: California within the United States, Germany within the European Union, prefectures and some municipalities (Tokyo and Kyoto) within Japan, and provinces and prefectures within China. The reasons why local governments sometimes choose to act as agenda setters are considered, the ways local governments can influence national government policies are discussed, the role of international networks in diffusing policy ideas among local governments is introduced, and the obstacles to affecting deep change at the local level are considered.

Multi-Level Reinforcement: Explaining European Union Leadership in Climate Change Mitigation

The European Union has played a leading role in pushing for the establishment, ratification, and meaningful implementation of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, although it still has significant efforts to make to achieve its target of an 8 percent cut of greenhouse gas by 20082012 relative to the 1990 level. This article explores the political factors behind continued EU leadership in climate change. It argues that a few individual states (including Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and the UK) played an essential role in establishing the EUs agenda in this domain. However, the decentralized governance structure of the EU has also encouraged a process of mutual reinforcement, whereby individual states, the European Commission, and the European Parliament are competing for leadership.

Environmental politics in Japan, Germany, and the United States

A decade of climate change negotiations almost ended in failure because of the different policy approaches of the industrialized states. Japan, Germany, and the United States exemplify the deep divisions that exist among states in their approaches to environmental protection. Germany is following what could be called the green social welfare state approach to environmental protection, which is increasingly guided by what is known as the precautionary principle. In contrast, the US is increasingly leaning away from the use of environmental regulations, towards the use of market-based mechanisms to control pollution and cost-benefit analysis to determine when environmental protection should take precedence over economic activities. Internal political divisions mean that Japan sits uneasily between these two approaches. Miranda A. Schreurs uses a variety of case studies to explore why these different policy approaches emerged and what their implications are, examining the differing ideas, actors, and institutions in each state.

The internationalization of environmental protection

1. Domestic and international linkages in environmental politics Miranda A. Schreurs and Elizabeth C. Economy 2. Chinese policy-making and global climate change: two-front diplomacy and the international community Elizabeth Economy 3. The domestic politics of global biodiversity protection in the United Kingdom and the United States Kal Raustiala 4. Domestic and international linkages in global environmental politics: a case study of the Montreal Protocol Joanne M. Kauffman 5. The internationalization of environmental protection in the USSR and its successor states Robert G. Darst 6. Domestic institutions and international environmental agendas in Japan and Germany Miranda A. Schreurs 7. Zimbabwe and CITES: illustrating the reciprocal relationship between the state and the international regime Phyllis Mofson 8. The European Union: bridging domestic and international environmental policy making Angela Liberatore.

Balancing Renewable Electricity. Energy Storage, Demand Side Management and Network Extension from an Interdisciplinary Perspective

Current images of our future energy system include the assumption that a high proportion of renewable energies will be used. Relevant scenarios assume that by 2050 anywhere from 80 to even 100 percent of our electricity will be generated from renewable energy sources. In addition to power generating systems, the necessary ingredients for a working system with a high proportion of renewable energy sources include climate-friendly technologies for balancing the supply and demand of electricity. This is of particular importance with regard to wind turbines and photovoltaic systems whose supply often plummets due to adverse weather conditions. The Europaische Akademie has now published an interdisciplinary study entitled “Balancing Renewable Electricity. Energy Storage, Demand Side Management and Network Extension from an Interdisciplinary Perspective”. It provides a comprehensive overview of the use of energy storage systems, demand side management and extended networks for balancing supply and demand within systems which have a high proportion of renewable energy sources. Based on the results of a threeyear research project at the Europaische Akademie, researchers from the fields of power engineering, technology assessment, political science, economics and law are making recommendations in a joint effort for the development and implementation of climate-friendly strategies for balancing supply and demand within the electricity system. It will prove challenging to provide power according to different time scales – since it must be available within fractions of a second and continue to be available for several hours or days. Because of the challenge this task represents, the authors predict that a mixture of suitable technologies will eventually prevail. They have also come to the conclusion that significant development needs exist regarding energy storage, demand side management as well as electrical transmission and distribution networks. Promoting innovation in these areas requires, amongst others, a concept aimed at removing obstacles which arise from existing financial support of other energy technologies. So as to create a better basis for political measures, systems studies and scientific policy advisory work should also be expanded. Moreover, the authors perceive a need for amendments to be made in the legal field. Some important keywords in this context include: legal assignments of storage applications to the level of the generator or network, planning processes, how to deal with the large amounts of regularly generated sensitive data and the regulation of the manifold new business relationships which arise.

Multi-level Governance and Global Climate Change in East Asia

Climate change is an issue that requires integrated action at multiple levels of government and within the spheres of politics, economics, and society. National, regional, and local governments have both distinct and complementary roles in developing climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. Compared with the attention that has been given to international and national activities in East Asia, relatively limited attention has been paid to the role of urban and regional governments in combating global climate change. Cities and provinces are initiating their own climate action plans, positioning themselves as environmental model cities, and joining local, national, and international networks for climate change. This article examines urban and prefectural climate policies in China, Japan, and South Korea within a multilevel governance framework.

Economic Analysis and Policy

Having discussed technical requirements, potentials and costs for balancing technologies in the previous sections, this chapter investigates problems in a market economy with electricity supply that changes with weather conditions and incentives to balance supply and demand (see Sect. 7.1). This is followed by an analysis of the reasons and potentials for politically manipulating economic framework conditions (see Sect. 7.2). The results are finally summarised and concluded in Sect. 7.3.

The politics of phase-out

The German decision to phase out nuclear energy following the Fukushima crisis builds on earlier political decisions to support the growth of renewable electricity, to improve energy efficiency, and to turn Germany toward sustainable energy and away from nuclear power. Germany is now embarking on what is known as the Energiewende, a plan to turn the entire economy to a low-carbon energy structure that does not make use of nuclear energy. The last nuclear power plants are scheduled to be shut down in 2022. Although there are still many skeptics of the phase-out plan, it has support across the political spectrum; Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Christian Democratic Union sees this as one of her top priorities, as do the opposition Greens and Social Democratic Party. In part, this support stems from the financial benefits that the shift to renewables has brought to many small- and medium-sized German businesses. The expansion of renewable energy capacity has been dramatic and now accounts for one-quarter of electricity production, up from about 3 percent in 1990.

High Noon in Japan: Embedded Symbolism and Post-2001 Kyoto Protocol Politics

In 2001, the Japanese government committed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change against industry pressures and in spite of the US decision to withdraw from the agreement. This commitment was crucial for the survival of the protocol. Japan has subsequently introduced substantialyet, mostly voluntarymeasures. To explain the puzzle of Japans ratification, this article builds upon the agenda-setting literature and advances the concept of embedded symbolism. During the 1990s, political leaders elevated climate change and the Kyoto Protocol to the level of a national symbol. Thus, although in 2001 successful implementation of the Kyoto target looked extremely difficult and industry opposition was strong, the symbolism of Kyoto backed by strong public support tipped the balance in favor of ratification.

Energiewende als Herausforderung der Koordination im Mehrebenensystem

Mit der Energiewende hat Deutschland ein Experiment groseren Ausmases in Angriff genommen. In den nachsten Jahrzehnten soll ein Energieversorgungssystem, das uberwiegend auf fossilen Brennstoffen basiert (zurzeit fast 80%), auf einen hohen Anteil erneuerbarer Energien umgestellt werden. Das ist nichts weniger als eine Revolutionierung der Energieversorgung, die nicht nur die Erhohung des Anteils der Erneuerbaren an der Energieerzeugung umfasst, sondern auch erhebliche Anpassungen der Infrastrukturen und Koordinationsmechanismen erfordert, um die erneuerbaren Energien in das System zu integrieren.