TY - JOUR

T1 - Climate policy innovation

T2 - a sociotechnical transitions perspective

AU - Upham, Paul

AU - Kivimaa, Paula

AU - Mickwitz, Per

AU - Aestrand, Kerstin

PY - 2014/9/3

Y1 - 2014/9/3

N2 - Seeking to develop a novel understanding of how climate policy innovation (CPI) emerges and spreads, we conceptualise three types of CPIs – genuinely original, diffusion based, and reframing based – and relate these to the sociotechnical transitions literature, particularly the multi-level perspective (MLP) that explains change through interaction between ‘niche’, ‘regime’, and ‘landscape’ levels. Selected climate-related transport policies in Finland, Sweden, and the UK are used to illustrate five hypotheses that connect these concepts from the MLP to particular types of CPI. ‘Original’ policy innovation may be uncommon in contexts with major sunk investments such as transport, principally because sociotechnical regimes tend to be resistant to political pressures for change originating at the same level. Nonetheless, the MLP posits that regimes are subject to influence by pressures originating at both niche and landscape levels. Given that policy reframing is relatively common, it may offer a key entry point for CPI in the short to medium term.

AB - Seeking to develop a novel understanding of how climate policy innovation (CPI) emerges and spreads, we conceptualise three types of CPIs – genuinely original, diffusion based, and reframing based – and relate these to the sociotechnical transitions literature, particularly the multi-level perspective (MLP) that explains change through interaction between ‘niche’, ‘regime’, and ‘landscape’ levels. Selected climate-related transport policies in Finland, Sweden, and the UK are used to illustrate five hypotheses that connect these concepts from the MLP to particular types of CPI. ‘Original’ policy innovation may be uncommon in contexts with major sunk investments such as transport, principally because sociotechnical regimes tend to be resistant to political pressures for change originating at the same level. Nonetheless, the MLP posits that regimes are subject to influence by pressures originating at both niche and landscape levels. Given that policy reframing is relatively common, it may offer a key entry point for CPI in the short to medium term.

KW - climate policy innovation

KW - path creation

KW - path dependence

KW - sociotechnical transitions

KW - transport

KW - Sustainability sciences, Communication

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84918767431&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/09644016.2014.923632

DO - 10.1080/09644016.2014.923632

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:84918767431

VL - 23

SP - 774

EP - 794

JO - Environmental Politics

JF - Environmental Politics

SN - 0964-4016

IS - 5

ER -