Policy integration strategy and the development of the ‘green economy’: foundations and implementation patterns

Abstract

In several countries, the remarkable development of the ‘green economy’ in recent years has gone hand in hand with the implementation of strategies of integration (more or less rapid and thorough) of public policies linked to the environment. This policy integration strategy is generally a necessary condition for the encouragement and viable development of new environmental technologies and competitive green sectors. However, as emerges from the extended review of the theoretical and empirical literature on which this paper is based, the success of this policy integration strategy is based more on the design, timing, coherence (spatial and temporal) and the pragmatism of policies undertaken by the public authorities, than on the scale of the resources committed – even if the latter count.

Keywords:

• environmental innovations
• green economy
• integration of public policies
• multi-level governance
• policy design and implementation
• territorial scales

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the two anonymous referees of the journal, whose detailed remarks and suggestions helped them greatly in refocusing and improving the initial version of this paper. The usual caveats apply.

Notes

1. Different authors have contributed to defining the idea of environmental innovation (cf. notably: Kemp et al. 1992, Kemp 1997, Cleff and Rennings 1999).

2. For an overview of the measures taken by administrations (federal, regional and local) in the field of renewables and energy efficiency, see the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (http://www.dsireusa.org).

3. Technological routes, of which there are many in this field, do in fact follow their own life cycle (cf. Christiansen and Buen 2002, Garud and Karnøe 2003, Beise and Rennings 2005, Buen, 2006, Brown et al. 2007).

4. Thus in Spain, the expansion of wind power was firstly slowed by a substandard electricity infrastructure and by the inadequate interconnection of regional electricity networks, then was encouraged by companies in the building industry wanting to diversify and who were seeking new property projects (Del Rio and Unruh 2007).

5. The low cost of nuclear-generated electricity thus significantly slowed the expansion of renewable energy in France while, conversely, the anti-nuclear lobby to a large extent encouraged the expansion of wind power in Germany (Michaelowa 2005). In Norway, it was lobbying by hydroelectric and oil companies which slowed down the development of the wind power sector (Christiansen and Buen 2002, Buen 2006).

6. Article 6 of the Amsterdam Treaty thus states that: “environmental protection requirements must be integrated into the definition and implementation of the Community policies and activities, … in particular with a view to promoting sustainable development”.