Abstract
Climate Change Acts (CCAs) seek to anchor national climate policy by establishing long-term targets and lines of accountability that guide the development of other climate policy instruments. However, counter-pressures to modify CCAs can occur where tensions exist with the provisions of already-established policies that enjoy substantial political and stakeholder support. Such tensions can be especially pronounced where CCAs necessitate major changes to emissions trading schemes (ETSs) that have formed the mainstay of efforts to reduce national emissions. This article employs a novel anchoring policy framework to examine the dynamics of aligning ETSs with CCAs. We investigate debates on reforms to the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme following the introduction of the Zero Carbon Act in 2019 to examine how alignment pressures between anchoring and subordinate policies are negotiated. The analysis reveals several tactics used to increase the acceptability of reforms to the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme and protect the Zero Carbon Act’s integrity. The article concludes by arguing that a greater understanding of alignment pressures between anchoring and subordinate policies is essential in enabling both CCAs and ETSs to contribute to achieving decarbonisation goals.
Highlights
In 2019, New Zealand joined the UK and a number of other countries in adopting a framework climate change act (CCA) to guide the development of its national cli‐ mate strategy (Muinzer, 2021)
As our analysis indicates, anchor‐ ing policies (APs)–subordinate policies (SPs) relationships are typified by tensions between anchor‐ ing and path dependency, it provides a reminder that CCAs are not unshakable: “the[ir] task is to create enduring legislation that translates international commitments into domestic goals that are implemented and achieved” (Taylor & Scanlen, 2018, p. 68)
This article has employed a novel framework to investi‐ gate how alignment pressures between CCAs and other climate policies are managed politically, the factors influ‐ encing how tensions between policies are navigated, and the implications of these tensions for CCAs as guid‐ ing frameworks for national climate mitigation policy
Summary
In 2019, New Zealand joined the UK and a number of other countries in adopting a framework climate change act (CCA) to guide the development of its national cli‐ mate strategy (Muinzer, 2021). The focus on long‐term stability and high thresholds for future gov‐ ernments to amend CCAs is another feature distinguish‐ ing CCAs from other national climate laws that may be more susceptible to politically motivated changes (Muinzer, 2020). For these reasons, the anchoring capac‐ ity of CCAs is seen as critical to delivering the emis‐ sions cuts pledged by national governments under the Paris Climate Agreement. The article refines the frame‐ work utilising insights from the New Zealand case and offers conclusions
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