For inquiries regarding this research group, please contact acting Environment and Sustainable Development research group leader Joan DeBardeleben (joan_debardeleben@carleton.ca).
The intellectual focus
Joan DeBardeleben, joan_debardeleben@carleton.ca
Inger Weibust, inger_weibust@carleton.ca
This theme has been added to the research cluster this year, because it matches the thematic selection criteria (current societal importance, relevance of EU-Canada research exchange
) and because we have the expertise to launch it. The environment file has a powerful potential for fruitful
transatlantic cooperation, reflected in goals set out in t
he 2004 Partnership Agenda, but at the same time the issue has been a sore point in relations between Europe and Canada regarding responses to climate change. Developed states on both sides of the Atlantic confront
many similar challenges (Knill and Lenschow 2000; VanNijnatten and Boardman 2002).
The theme will be articulated around four cross cutting issues: the integration of economic, social and environmental decision making; the science/policy linkage; the involvement of stakeholders and publics; and the challenge of multi-level governance. Integration of the economy, the environment and society is the cornerstone of sustainable development (WCED 1987; Lafferty 2004). Mediating the interface between science and policy in the technically demanding environmental area is a critical problem for modern governments (Harremoës et al 2002; Kemp, Parto and Gibson 2005). As environmental issues increasingly raise questions about lifestyles and consumption patterns (Princen, Maniates and Conca 2002), consideration of viewpoints from stakeholders and publics becomes more important (Meadowcroft 2004). And the multi-tiered structures of modern environmental governance (municipal, provincial, and federal structures in Canada; local, national and EU levels in the EU) raise issues of effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of various levels of government (Wurzel 2002).With respect to specific environmental problems the energy/climate change linkage, chemicals policy, Arctic issues, and protected areas will form the starting point for activities. Energy lies at the core of the climate change conundrum (Meadowcroft 2007) and was a highlight in the EU-Canada Summit Statement (2007), including establishment of a High-Level Dialogue on Environment. A number of European countries have highly successful policy frameworks for the promotion of renewable energies (for example, feed-in tariffs in Germany). Canada shares an interest with European states in carbon capture and storage (CCS) (Mitchell and Van Ham 2006) and biofuels, but with respect to greenhouse gas emissions trading Canada favors intensity targets whereas the EU has pursued hard caps. The contrast among different approaches to accelerating technological innovation in these areas (for example Sustainable Development Technologies Canada) is highly instructive.
Both Canada and the EU (through REACH, which stands for ‘Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals’) are currently undergoing significant reforms to their chemicals management schemes and here too there is the basis for fruitful interchange involving not just government actors but the experiences of civil society participants. The Arctic is an emerging focus for bilateral relations; Canada and EU states also face parallel issues with respect to protected areas (consider for example the EU Habitats Directive).
The research theme will in the first instance examine specific problems related to energy policy and climate change that are faced by multi-governance systems (such as Canada’s federal system and the EU, with its multiple levels). A research workshop on this topic is planned by Carleton’s EUCE (with EU funding) for spring 2009; our first cluster transatlantic workshop, which will reach out to a broader public, is planned to immediately precede or follow that workshop in order to permit experts to participate in both. Other particular environmental issues mentioned above will be addressed in smaller cluster workshops and working groups in subsequent years of the seven-year grant period.
The theme will be articulated around four cross cutting issues: the integration of economic, social and environmental decision making; the science/policy linkage; the involvement of stakeholders and publics; and the challenge of multi-level governance. Integration of the economy, the environment and society is the cornerstone of sustainable development (WCED 1987; Lafferty 2004). Mediating the interface between science and policy in the technically demanding environmental area is a critical problem for modern governments (Harremoës et al 2002; Kemp, Parto and Gibson 2005). As environmental issues increasingly raise questions about lifestyles and consumption patterns (Princen, Maniates and Conca 2002), consideration of viewpoints from stakeholders and publics becomes more important (Meadowcroft 2004). And the multi-tiered structures of modern environmental governance (municipal, provincial, and federal structures in Canada; local, national and EU levels in the EU) raise issues of effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of various levels of government (Wurzel 2002).With respect to specific environmental problems the energy/climate change linkage, chemicals policy, Arctic issues, and protected areas will form the starting point for activities. Energy lies at the core of the climate change conundrum (Meadowcroft 2007) and was a highlight in the EU-Canada Summit Statement (2007), including establishment of a High-Level Dialogue on Environment. A number of European countries have highly successful policy frameworks for the promotion of renewable energies (for example, feed-in tariffs in Germany). Canada shares an interest with European states in carbon capture and storage (CCS) (Mitchell and Van Ham 2006) and biofuels, but with respect to greenhouse gas emissions trading Canada favors intensity targets whereas the EU has pursued hard caps. The contrast among different approaches to accelerating technological innovation in these areas (for example Sustainable Development Technologies Canada) is highly instructive.
Both Canada and the EU (through REACH, which stands for ‘Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals’) are currently undergoing significant reforms to their chemicals management schemes and here too there is the basis for fruitful interchange involving not just government actors but the experiences of civil society participants. The Arctic is an emerging focus for bilateral relations; Canada and EU states also face parallel issues with respect to protected areas (consider for example the EU Habitats Directive).
The research theme will in the first instance examine specific problems related to energy policy and climate change that are faced by multi-governance systems (such as Canada’s federal system and the EU, with its multiple levels). A research workshop on this topic is planned by Carleton’s EUCE (with EU funding) for spring 2009; our first cluster transatlantic workshop, which will reach out to a broader public, is planned to immediately precede or follow that workshop in order to permit experts to participate in both. Other particular environmental issues mentioned above will be addressed in smaller cluster workshops and working groups in subsequent years of the seven-year grant period.
Harremoës., D. Gee, M. MacGarvin, A. Stirling, J. Keys, B. Wynne and S.Guedes Vaz (2002), The Precautionary principle in the Twentieth century: Late lessons from early warnings, London: Earthscan Publications.
Kemp, R., S. Parto and R. Gibson (2005). ‘Governance for sustainable development: moving from theory to practice’, International Journal of Sustainable Development 8: 12-30.
Knill, C. and A. Lenschow (2000), Implementing EU Environmental Policy, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Lafferty, W. (2004). Governance for Sustainable Development: the Challenge of Adapting Form to Function, Cheltenham, UK ; Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
Meadowcroft, J. (2004), ‘Participation and sustainable development: modes of citizen, community, and organizational involvement’, in W. Lafferty (ed), Governance for Sustainable Development:The Challenge of Adapting Form to Function (Cheltenham, UK ; Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2004), pp. 162-190.
Meadowcroft, J. (2007), Governing the transition to a new energy economy,’ in F. Armstrong and K. Blundell (eds.), Energy…Beyond Oil (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), pp. 197-214.
Mitchell, B. and J.Van Ham (2006). Canada’s CO2 Capture and Storage Road Map. Ottawa: Natural Resources Canada.
Princen. T., M. Maniates and K. Conca (2002), Confronting Consumption, Boston: MIT Press. 3
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