Environmental Policy Integration Research Articles

Household food wastes in Morocco: extent of, drivers of and environmental policy integration for sustainable consumption

Household food wastes in Morocco: extent of, drivers of and environmental policy integration for sustainable consumption

Impact of Urban Expansion on Migratory Birds in the Lagos Wetlands: Breeding Habits and Population Dynamics

This research delves into the complex interactions between urban expansion and migratory bird populations in the Lagos wetlands, specifically examining how changes in urban landscapes influence breeding habits and population dynamics. The rapid and extensive urbanization in Lagos has resulted in considerable habitat fragmentation and environmental degradation, leading to significant disruptions in the ecological functions vital for the sustenance of migratory bird species. This study conducts a thorough analysis of existing conservation measures, assessing their effectiveness and identifying gaps in current practices. Building on this analysis, the research proposes a suite of integrated strategies for sustainable urban planning that emphasizes wildlife preservation. These strategies include the development of green infrastructure, the establishment of ecological corridors, enhanced community involvement in conservation efforts, and the integration of robust environmental policies into urban planning frameworks. The study underscores the critical need for a holistic and scalable approach to urban planning, one that effectively balances human development with the preservation of biodiversity. The findings advocate for a multi-faceted response to urban impacts, suggesting that while current conservation efforts provide a foundation, they require significant expansion and reinforcement to safeguard the migratory bird populations and maintain the ecological health of the Lagos wetlands in the face of ongoing urban challenges.

Green Growth Strategy and Environmental Policy Integration in Sustainable Economic Development: A Review of Bibliometric Analysis

This study presents a comprehensive review of literature on green growth strategy and environmental policy integration in sustainable economic development, utilizing bibliometric analysis as a methodological approach. Over four decades of scholarly contributions were examined, revealing a substantial body of literature with significant scholarly impact. Through citation metrics and network visualizations, key thematic clusters emerged, highlighting discussions on sustainable economic development, firm strategies for sustainability, green job markets, and technological innovations for environmental purposes. The analysis underscores the importance of integrating environmental considerations into economic decision-making processes and offers insights for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to inform evidence-based decision-making and guide future research agendas. The findings contribute to advancing theoretical understanding and empirical insights into the interplay between green growth, environmental policy integration, and sustainable economic development, thereby facilitating progress towards a more equitable and environmentally resilient future.

Implementing climate change adaptation through mainstreaming at the local level—a comparative case study of two municipalities in the Netherlands

Governments face increasing urgency to adapt to climate change. However, there is a persistent gap between needed and implemented adaptation. The implementation of adaptation often takes place at the local level, making municipalities crucial actors, particularly regarding mainstreaming adaptation into various sectors. While mainstreaming has the potential to bring many benefits, it does not necessarily result in the implementation of adaptation. Its contribution to the adaptation process over time and the resulting implementation at the local level remain poorly understood, exacerbating the adaptation implementation gap. To advance the understanding of mainstreaming for implementation, we synthesize the emerging debates on adaptation mainstreaming with the literature on environmental policy integration and offer a framework towards a nuanced conceptualization of mainstreaming. Our results from a case study of two Dutch municipalities show that managerial actions precede the acceleration of implementation in the built environment and point to a learning curve. Furthermore, mainstreaming focuses on the water sector, built environment and green infrastructure, with little attention paid to the intersection of heat stress and drought with other sectors, while differences in the implementation of adaptation in the two cases hint at the influence of the local context. We conclude that there is no blueprint to implement adaptation, and while local preferences determine the sectors where integration and implementation occur, consideration of long-term future climate change is lacking in both cities’ mainstreaming of adaptation implementation. Our framework allowed identifying the potential and pitfalls of mainstreaming adaptation towards implementation at the local level.

Ecosystem approaches in the practice of national enforcement

The article is devoted to current problems of ecology and enforcement. Ukraine is not a member of the EU, which makes it impossible to directly apply EU norms in national enforcement practice. However, having been ratified the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their member states, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part is a full-fledged part of the national legal order, which outlines a range of key issues, in particular, the standards that appear before national legislation as a challenge to cooperation on environmental protection issues, and adaptation to EU legislation. The agreement envisages the strengthening of environmental protection activities through the improvement of the health care system, the preservation of natural resources, the improvement of economic and environmental protection efficiency, the integration of environmental policy into other areas of state policy, as well as the increase of the level of production thanks to modern technologies, which will have positive consequences for citizens and enterprises in Ukraine and the EU. As well as the issue of harmonization of legislation on environmental protection, including the implementation of the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention), which provides for the involvement of the public in the decision-making process on environmental issues and guarantees access to justice for person and public organizations when environmental legislation and/or provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights are violate.
 The need to analyze domestic judicial practice on environmental legal relations in various jurisdictions is extremely urgent. The application of international ratified documents, in particular the Aarhus Convention, is precisely the source of law that, firstly, opens wide public access to appeal procedures; secondly, it is the legal basis for resolving disputes about compensation for damage to the environment; thirdly, it makes impossible the limited interpretation of the current national legislation of Ukraine, regarding the right to appeal to the court for the protection of an interest protected by law in the sphere of guaranteeing environmental safety; fourthly, guarantees the right to appeal to the court of an unlimited number of persons (can be exercised by citizens personally or jointly through the association of citizens), and the resolution of disputed environmental-legal relations, i.e. those are public; fifth, guarantees the subject of the law access to the court without discrimination based on his actual location or actual center of activity; sixth, it affects the formation of established legal practice in environmental disputes.

Policy integration for brownfield regeneration: An analytical tool

Fragmentation of policymaking within government structures and hierarchies can often impede the formulation and implementation of sustainable urban policy. This fragmentation is apparent in complex issues such as the remediation and redevelopment of brownfields. This paper addresses integration across multiple policy domains using brownfield regeneration as a vehicle. Building on the logic and principles of Environmental Policy Integration (EPI), we present a structured analytical tool (namely Policy Integration for Brownfields- PIB) to aid in a systematic analysis of brownfield policy across different regimes at different stages of policy development. We demonstrate the utility of PIB with examples from the USA, Europe, UK, Japan, and China to highlight the critical factors essential to ensure brownfield regeneration meets the overarching aim of making cities more sustainable. The findings suggest a need for balance between often conflicting environmental and non-environmental goals in multiple phases of brownfield policymaking and practice, both between levels of government (horizontally) and across sectoral interests (vertically).

ЗАХОДИ З ПОКРАЩЕННЯ ЕКОЛОГІЧНОГО СТАНУ ДОВКІЛЛЯ У ЗОНІ ВПЛИВУ АВТОМОБІЛЬНИХ ДОРІГ

Introduction. In the context of the modern development of the automotive industry and the road sector as a whole, the level of technogenic load on the environment from the operation of the road complex is increasing. Therefore, measures to minimize the negative impact of the operation of roads are becoming increasingly important. Problem Statement. Unlike the countries of the European Union, Ukraine has not properly developed the provision of environmentally friendly technologies, the introduction of regulatory and legal support for the mandatory integration of environmental policy into other documents containing the principles of state, sectoral regional and local development, the introduction of approaches to environmental, socio-economic development planning, the elimination of the dependence of economic growth on the increased use of natural resources and increased environmental pollution, the formation of a system of environmental protection from the impact of roads - these principles are the basis for the development and implementation of a set of measures to ensure environmental safety in the road sector. Purpose. To determine the level of environmental safety of the entire road complex, to identify changes in the environmental legislation of Ukraine, and to analyze the strategy of the state environmental policy of Ukraine.

Enhancing electric vehicle market diffusion modeling: A German case study on environmental policy integration

In order to reduce national and global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, many countries worldwide have committed themselves to a more sustainable development of their transport sector. Promoting the use of electrical vehicles (EVs) rather than combustion engine cars is one political strategy to achieve a reduction in GHG emissions. To implement targeted and effective promotion measures governments can refer to market diffusion models for EVs. However, in our study we identify that in existing models the consideration of environmental measures is underrepresented. Hence, this paper addresses this gap in current market diffusion models for EVs by particular focusing on environmental effects as additional influencing factors of the market diffusion. Results are drawn for the German car market with a market diffusion simulation until 2050 applying the market diffusion model ALADIN considering the introduction of distinct CO2 tax trajectories. The results are analyzed based on scenarios, where (i) no CO2 tax, (ii) the current governmental plan for a CO2 tax, and (iii) a considerable high CO2 tax is applied. Additional insights when incrementally increasing the CO2 tax are provided. The scenario analysis shows that the market diffusion is highly dependent on the evolution of external factors. A CO2 tax considerably higher than the current governmental plan by 2030 (such as 150€/t, based on its monetary value by 2020) is required to have a meaningful impact on the market diffusion of EVs. Moreover, applying a considerable high CO2 tax leads to a slower growth of BEV and PHEV from 2040 onwards that is compensated by a growth in FCEV vehicles.

Eco-social policy in the global political economy: Analysing shifting discourses on agricultural subsidies

While critical political economy (CPE) has yet to play a prominent role in eco-social policy research, this paper argues that a deeper engagement with CPE and a better understanding of the global political economy can enhance eco-social policy debates. CPE can help us to see the contradictions in and impediments to integrating environmental and social policies, and particularly why both of these categories continue to be mediated and shaped by economic logics. In order to develop these arguments, we analyse recent international discourses on agricultural subsidies promoted by key policy actors such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the World Bank, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. By examining agriculture as a nodal point between diverse scales and domains such as the local, global, environmental, social, and economic spheres, we explore how certain positions are prioritised over others. We argue that the discourse on ‘repurposing subsidies’ in global agricultural policy expresses a ‘new critical orthodoxy’ that recognises the need for transformation but fails to address the structural conditions of the global political economy responsible for environmental and social crises. Instead, the proposed solutions rely on existing institutions and capitalist logics to resolve current crises, even if the latter are underpinned by these logics. Our analysis underlines the need for eco-social policy scholarship to be cognizant of how environmental and social policy integration is always embedded within a particular global political economy that reproduces certain inequalities and is not a neutral policy terrain.

Network analysis of scientific advisory committee integration in climate change policy: A comparison of Germany and Japan

According to the literature on Environmental Policy Integration (EPI), decisionmaking in complex domains of environmental policy—of which climate change is a prime example—tend to fragment and silo into individual dimensions of a problem. Scientific Advisory Committees (SACs) have been widely used to promote more integrated decisionmaking. SACs are intended to integrate the varied, and often fragmented, dimensions of policy problems, and this integration is widely believed to enable more effective use of science in climate change policy. This paper empirically evaluates the degree of integration achieved through SACs in two national climate policy contexts: Germany and Japan. Network analysis is used to examine the myriad scientific advisory committees focused on climate change policy in these nations (N = 218), and quantify the degree of vertical integration (integration among different sectors) and horizontal integration (integration among different governmental bodies). Results show greater vertical integration among German SACs than Japanese SACs, and similar levels of horizontal integration between the two nations despite having very different structures. Such efforts to empirically connect the conceptual discussion of integration in EPI with empirical observations of integration in actual climate policy processes is an important step towards understanding the strategies that may be used to promote more integrated decisionmaking in climate change policy.

Environmental Policy and Solid waste management. A case of Lodwar Municipality, Turkana County, Kenya.

Purpose: The formulation of Environment Policy 2018 of Turkana County is based on the requirement by the (Constitution of Kenya; 2010 and the County Governments Act, 2013) which gives powers to the county government to formulate policies and enact laws. It is this provision that Turkana County sort to formulate policy to address the management of waste in Lodwar municipality and its environment. The purpose of this article was to determine the influence of the Environmental Policy on Solid waste management in a case of Lodwar Municipality, Turkana County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were; To establish impact of private-public partnership on sustainable waste management in Lodwar Municipality, Turkana County; To assess the impact of political good will on solid waste management in Lodwar Municipality, Turkana County; To determine adoption of emission-reducing technologies on solid management in Lodwar municipality, Turkana county and to assess the level of integration of environmental policy with socio-economic policies to boost solid waste management in Lodwar Municipality, Turkana County, Kenya.
 Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was adopted to target residents of Lodwar town, management and municipal workers, traders, fisherfolks, county National Environment Management Authority officers and public health department officers at the county level. Furthermore, the descriptive research design was employed and utilized structured and semi structure questionnaires. Out of the population of 110 target groups the sample size used for the study was 33 as stated by Mugenda and Mugenda 2008 that when a population is below 10000 the sample size should be 10% or 30% of the target population hence 30% was ideal for the study. The quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, mean scores, and content thematic respectively.
 Findings: The findings of the study indicated that, there were no monitoring framework in place to determine the effectiveness of the policy, lack of awareness of existence of the policy amongst the municipality employees, lack of political good will and lack of waste regulating system.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: In this regard, the study recommends the need for municipality to establish monitoring system to measure the effectiveness of the environmental policy in addressing the solid waste management issues; there was need of the county government to provide enough resources to support the strategies lied by the policies for environmental sustainability; The community members , municipality and county government staff need to be sensitized on the existence of the environmental policy; a legal framework ought to be developed to provide the regulatory and fiscal instruments needed to achieve Turkana environment policy objectives.

Political Science on Agri-Environmental Policy: From a Perspective of Environmental Policy Integration

Political Science on Agri-Environmental Policy: From a Perspective of Environmental Policy Integration

Clash or concert in European forests? Integration and coherence of forest ecosystem service–related national policies

This paper compares how forest ecosystem service–related policies are integrated in different national European forest governance contexts. Efforts to achieve policy integration at the EU and national levels are often described in terms of limited success. Our analysis of forest, energy/bioeconomy, climate, and conservation policies suggests that notions of progress or failure merit careful assessment. Combining theories of policy integration (PI), environmental policy integration (EPI), and policy coherence, we argue that integration outcomes depend on the combined effects of the degree and nature of PI, EPI, and multilevel coherence in the context of the prevailing forest governance system. The nature of the interdependencies, specifically anticipated synergies, and the scope of FES-related climate objectives, are crucial. Realizing the range of FES-related objectives entails safeguarding objectives not synergistically aligned with economic aims. Failures to safeguard biodiversity and regulating and cultural ecosystem services in the process of integration may have far-reaching consequences.

The importance of calibration in policy mixes: Environmental policy integration in the implementation of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy in Germany (2014–2022)

AbstractEnvironmental policy integration (EPI), that is, the incorporation of environmental concerns in non‐environmental policy areas, has been widely adopted in public policies. However, EPI research has found much discrepancy between environmental objectives and actual implementation. This paper argues that analyzing EPI in the context of policy mixes with multiple objectives, multiple instruments and their calibrations helps to better understand unavoidable tensions and limitations. We develop a framework to assess EPI at these three levels of policy output, synthesizing the EPI and policy mix literatures. We further distinguish four analytical dimensions to assess calibrations: stringency, specificity, flexibility, and temporality. A case study of the national implementation of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Germany 2014–2022 is used to elaborate the conceptual argument. The CAP has saliently incorporated environmental objectives, while implementation, including the calibrations of most instruments within predetermined corridors, is left to member states. A systematic meta‐review of 142 texts evaluating policy instruments and calibrations in the CAP 2014–2022, focusing on Germany, found that several CAP instruments link most farm income support to pro‐environmental behavior. These instruments could potentially have high environmental effectiveness and efficiency. But actual policy calibrations delivered weak EPI due to low stringency and specificity, while high flexibility and temporal accommodation of farmers' needs might support EPI by increasing acceptance. Weak EPI resulted from instrument calibrations in the face of unavoidable trade‐offs between competing objectives. Our results demonstrate that calibrations can significantly affect the strength of EPI adoption, and the priorities within policy mixes more generally.

ВІДНОВЛЕННЯ ОБ'ЄКТІВ ПРИРОДНЬОГО НАВКОЛИШНЬОГО СЕРЕДОВИЩА ВІД ВІЙСЬКОВИХ ДІЙ В ПІСЛЯВОЄННИЙ ПЕРІОД

This article reveals the peculiarities of the restoration of natural environment objects from military operations in the post-war period. Attention is paid to such groups as: land, subsoil, water, atmospheric air, forests, plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, viruses. It was noted that the need for the development of a comprehensive mechanism for the restoration of the natural environment is currently necessary to approve the Strategic State Program for Combating the Ecocide of the Russian Occupiers of the Natural Environment of Ukraine. It should be noted that ecocide is the commission of any illegal or harmful actions that are well known by those who commit them, which can cause serious, irreversible, long-term damage to the environment. Today, the five regions of Ukraine most affected by ecocide include: Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions. They are under constant shelling and attacks. The minimum calculation of environmental damage from Russia's actions as of the end of 2022 is UAH 532 billion. This program should introduce a system for recording all violations in the field of environmental protection, which will allow recording the real volume of damage caused and taking the most effective measures to avoid further deterioration of the situation and restore ecosystems to a safe state for both humans and wildlife. And also develop mechanisms to hold Russia accountable for the ecocide of the Ukrainian natural environment, as well as the procedure for European integration in the field of environmental protection in the areas of: environmental management and integration of environmental policy into other industry policies, atmospheric air quality, waste management, water quality and water resources management , industrial pollution and man-made threats, climate change, genetically modified organisms. Provide nature-oriented solutions and measures for adaptation to climate change in the plans for the reconstruction of settlements. Development of mechanisms for capturing solid household waste that enters transboundary rivers.

Norwegian stakeholder's attitudes towards EU taxonomy

PurposeThe European Union (EU) aims to become climate-neutral by 2050. Achieving this requires targeted measures and strategies. One of the instruments of the EU is the EU taxonomy, a classification system with the purpose of creating a common definition of what economic activities are deemed sustainable. The paper aims to examine how the EU taxonomy can affect the Norwegian construction industry, property owners and facilities management (FM) providers.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on a document analysis and interviews with main stakeholders within the financial sector, construction and real estate (RE) sector, authorities, environmental organisations and businesses related to FM and RE.FindingsThe findings show that different stakeholders share largely similar attitudes towards the taxonomy, although some differ in their opinions. This paper finds that there are high levels of uncertainty and confusion associated with the taxonomy, which can be said to be a major obstacle for successful implementation. Several stakeholders show concerns related to the fact that Norway lacks definitions and regulations on which the taxonomy is based. The requirements for new buildings and existing buildings are considered stricter than the current practice in the Norwegian construction and RE industry, while the requirements for renovation are considered more achievable. The uptake of the EU taxonomy will impact the FM and the urban FM practices and standards for the procurement of services, and the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies must be developed.Research limitations/implicationsThe research presented in this paper was conducted at a time when the EU taxonomy was a relatively unknown concept in the Norwegian construction and RE industry. FM providers were not interviewed in this study.Practical implicationsThis research is one of the first studies to be conducted on this topic in Norway and represents the first meeting between the EU taxonomy and the industry. The discussion underpins the relevance of adjusting and updating FM standards to today’s knowledge about ESG principles.Originality/valueThe paper shows the viewpoint of the Norwegian stakeholders involved in the construction and RE industry. This gives valuable information about the challenges that the industry needs to overcome.

Environmental sustainability policy within Australian Olympic sport organisations

ABSTRACT The 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games commitment to deliver a ‘climate-positive’ Games raises concerns about the current environmental actions of Australian Olympic sport organisations. This study adapts a policy assessment framework, founded on environmental policy integration (EPI), to analyse the responses of Australian Olympic sport organisations to environmental sustainability. The integration of environmental considerations into sport policy is arguably critical to helping the sport industry transition to sustainable operations. However, an analysis of official documents found that the environmental responses of Australian Olympic sport organisations are limited and insufficient. It is argued that sport organisations need to develop more comprehensive mitigation and adaptation goals, change strategic directions, and integrate environmental policies into their mainstream activities. This transition should be supported by environmental impact and climate vulnerability assessments as well existing sport specific international frameworks (e.g., UN Sport for Climate Action Framework) and sustainability policies of international sports federations. The assessment framework used here has the potential to support the monitoring and evaluation of environmental policy integration within sport.

Factor-criteria assessment of greening prerequisites for transport infrastructure development in Ukraine

The article examines the elements of factor-criterion assessment greening of the prerequisites for the genesis of the transport sector of Ukraine; in particular, the results of the evaluation of the evolution of the national transport industry. The methods of regulatory influence on the stages of the genesis of the national transport sector were studied, and the main problems of the evolution of the transport sector were systematized. It was determined that environmental protection of the transport sector is an important component of country’s environmental security as a whole. The contribution of the «All-European program on transport, environment and health protection», which is implemented by the joint efforts of the UNECE and WHO, as well as the current regulatory and legal acts of Ukraine, which reflect modern trends in the integration of environmental policy into transport, are analyzed. In this model, there are international components of the sphere of service implementation, guidelines for defining goals and promising directions of greening, which will ensure the strengthening of the ecological component of the transit potential of Ukraine.

PECULIARITIES OF FRESHWATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE AND CURRENT TRENDS

The subject of the study is the current features of freshwater management in European countries and experience for Ukraine. Methodology. The study used general scientific methods, in particular: theoretical generalization; methods of positive and normative analysis and statistical analysis. The goal is to study the European experience in freshwater management and adapt it for Ukraine. Research conclusion. An analysis of the water supply of European households has been carried out and it has been found that there is no "water stress" under such conditions. However, with the global water scarcity resulting from population growth and urbanization, particularly tourism, in recent years, negative factors have particularly affected water use in small Mediterranean islands and in densely populated areas. To stabilize this situation, EU member states have been asked to report on each of the monitoring stations that have been removed from their monitoring network, the reason for such removal and the alternative stations installed in case of persistent pollution. It was found that trends can be calculated for 83% of groundwater stations (so far only 20% in Sweden) and 75% of surface water stations (but less than 50% for Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Slovakia and Sweden). The importance of freshwater and seawater remediation measures by EU Member States under Directive 24 to reduce the impact of eutrophication caused by nitrates or phosphorus is stressed. It was found that European integration strategies in the field of environmental protection are characterized by improving water quality and water management; environmental management and integration of environmental policies; ensuring air quality; waste management; reducing the use of genetically modified organisms. It is justified that to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the environmental component (natural environment) in the Association Agreement, the authors will analyze Ukraine on the index of environmental performance (The Environmental Performance Index), which provides a quantitative basis for comparison, analysis and understanding of environmental indicators in 180 countries.

Environmental policy integration in a newly established natural resource-based sector: the role of advocacy coalitions and contrasting conceptions of sustainability

Contributing a new South American case study, this paper seeks to advance the research agenda on processes of policy integration by developing a better understanding of how nascent subsystems become integrated into mature ones and the role that changing beliefs of advocacy coalitions play in fostering policy integration. The paper examines environmental policy integration in Uruguay’s forestry sector since the 1990s and is based on an inductive qualitative analysis of policy documents, sector reports, parliament hearings and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. This demonstrates that environmental policy integration has increased continuously since the 1990s, accelerating particularly during the 2000s. We can derive three insights that specifically address this path of integration: a change in the policy beliefs of the dominant advocacy coalition, international salience of the minority coalition`s beliefs and participatory policy processes that foster interactions between opposing coalitions. Despite this, the two advocacy coalitions have crystallized with fundamentally different deep core beliefs about what a sustainable forestry sector should be. While one coalition argues that commercial tree plantations are sufficiently regulated in environmental terms, the other coalition maintains that the way that the pulp industry has developed in Uruguay is fundamentally unsustainable and therefore seeks to change the forestry sector as a whole.