Climate policy innovation: a sociotechnical transitions perspective

Abstract

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.

Keywords:

• climate policy innovation
• sociotechnical transitions
• path dependence
• path creation
• transport

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Academy of Finland (grant 127288) and Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation. We are grateful for the valuable comments of Dave Huitema, Andrew Jordan, participants of two Climate Policy Innovation Workshops held in 2012, and anonymous referees.

Notes

^1. The EEA database includes policies and measures reported by EU Member States to the Commission or under the UNFCCC (EEA 2013b). The IEA Policies and Measures Databases offer access to information on energy-related policies and measures taken or planned to reduce GHG emissions, improve energy efficiency, and support renewable energy development and deployment (IEA 2013).