Blockages and Setbacks in Climate Policy

Abstract

Following a wave of public concern about climate change during the late 2010s and early 2020s, and considerable corresponding political activity, there has been increasing discussion of troubling political headwinds for climate policy progress. Such challenges include: the pursuit of fossil fuel extraction in response to energy security concerns raised by the war in Ukraine, increased construction costs hampering low carbon infrastructure projects, inflationary pressures making publics and governments wary of climate policy measures which may impose costs on consumers, and electoral success for radical rights parties which are often hostile to climate policy action. There have been high-profile examples of controversial climate policy initiatives or climate policy backsliding in recent months in countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and the UK. It is in this context that this panel examines ‘Blockages and Setbacks in Climate Policy’, focusing on the politics of disruptions (or potential disruptions) to the delivery of clean energy transitions. Contributions could potentially explore the following (indicative list): failed climate policy schemes, concerted campaigns against specific climate policies, climate policy backsliding, negative feedback effects and climate policy, party political dynamics as a block on climate policy, challenges faced by pro-climate actors (e.g. environmental NGOs), or regime-type as a constraint on policy progress. Within the overall topic, the panel is open to presenters with a wide range of approaches including both empirical and theoretical papers, papers focusing on national case studies or taking a more comparative approach, and papers with qualitative or quantitative approaches.

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