Political opportunities and storylines in Finnish climate policy negotiations

Abstract

This article addresses the discursive dimension of the politics of climate change. Drawing from the concept of political opportunity structure (POS) and Maarten Hajer's discourse analytical approach, it focuses on the ways in which Finnish technology-based climate and energy policy vision is constructed, specified and contested in the national energy policy debate. As Finland ranks among the top countries in international comparisons of economic competitiveness, research and development indicators and environmental performance, it provides a good example of emerging tensions in balancing various political objectives under the Kyoto obligations. The results suggest that a national POS enables and delimits opportunities for different political articulations to emerge. They also point to the importance of including a discursive dimension in the POS in order to enhance its applicability in understanding the dynamics of political contention.