Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T09:33:05.812Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - Policy Integration

from Part III - Policy Responses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2020

By
Hens Runhaar ,
Bettina Wilk ,
Peter Driessen ,
Niall Dunphy ,
Åsa Persson ,
James Meadowcroft  and
Gerard Mullally
Edited by
Frank Biermann  and
Rakhyun E. Kim
Frank Biermann
Affiliation:
Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands
Rakhyun E. Kim
Affiliation:
Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands
Get access

Summary

Environmental policy integration (EPI) is the incorporation of environmental concerns and objectives into non-environmental policy areas, such as energy, transport and agriculture, as opposed to pursuing such objectives through purely environmental policy practices. EPI is promoted to overcome policy incoherence and institutional fragmentation, to address the driving forces of environmental degradation and to promote innovation and synergy. But how effective are EPI strategies employed in practice? In this chapter we provide a meta-analysis of scientific, empirical research on EPI to address this question. An important finding is the discrepancy between the adoption of EPI in terms of objectives and commitments and its actual implementation, that is, translation into concrete measures. Overall, we found relatively few cases where environmental objectives were given a substantial status in non-environmental policies. The barriers we identified suggest that the actual detailed design or architecture of the strategies that are employed to promote EPI really matters.

Keywords

Environmental policysystematic literature revieweffectivenessgovernancemainstreaming
Type
Chapter
Information
Architectures of Earth System Governance
Institutional Complexity and Structural Transformation
 , pp. 183 - 206
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abazaj, J., Moen, Ø., & Ruud, A. (2016). Striking the balance between renewable energy generation and water status protection: hydropower in the context of the European Renewable Energy Directive and Water Framework Directive. Environmental Policy and Governance, 26 (5), 409–21.Google Scholar
Adelle, C., & Russel, D. (2013). Climate policy integration: A case of déjà vu? Environmental Policy and Governance, 23 (1), 1–12.Google Scholar
Alons, G. (2017), Environmental policy integration in the EU’s common agricultural policy: Greening or greenwashing? Journal of European Public Policy, 24 (11), 1–19.Google Scholar
Ansong, J., Gissi, E., & Calado, H. (2017). An approach to ecosystem-based management in maritime spatial planning process. Ocean and Coastal Management, 141, 65–81.Google Scholar
Biermann, F., Davies, O., & van der Grijp, N. (2009). Environmental policy integration and the architecture of global environmental governance. International Environmental Agreements, 9 (4), 351–69.Google Scholar
Bizikova, L., Metternicht, G., & Yarde, T. (2018). Environmental mainstreaming and policy coherence: Essential policy tools to link international agreements with national development. A case study of the Caribbean region. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 20 (3), 975–95.Google Scholar
Brendehaug, E., Aall, C., & Dodds, R. (2016). Environmental policy integration as a strategy for sustainable tourism planning: Issues in implementation. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25 (9), 1257–74.Google Scholar
Buizer, M., Arts, B., & Westerink, J. (2016). Landscape governance as policy integration ‘from below’: A case of displaced and contained political conflict in the Netherlands. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 34 (3), 448–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dyrhauge, H. (2014). The road to environmental policy integration is paved with obstacles: Intra- and inter-organizational conflicts in EU transport decision-making. Journal of Common Market Studies, 52 (5), 985–1001.Google Scholar
Dunlop, C. A., Maggetti, M., Radaelli, C. M., & Russel, D. (2012). The many uses of regulatory impact assessment: A meta-analysis of EU and UK cases. Regulation and Governance, 6, 23–45.Google Scholar
Dupont, C., & Oberthür, S. (2012). Insufficient Climate Policy Integration in EU energy policy: The importance of the long-term perspective. Journal of Contemporary European Research, 8 (2), 228–47.Google Scholar
European Commission (2016). Environmental integration. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/integration.htm. Accessed: 17 June 2019.Google Scholar
European Environment Agency (2005). Environmental policy integration in Europe: Administrative culture and practices. Available at: www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/Ann1120649962. Accessed: 17 June 2019.Google Scholar
Fertel, C., Bahn, O., Vaillancourt, K., & Waaub, J.-P. (2013). Canadian energy and climate policies: A SWOT analysis in search of federal/provincial coherence. Energy Policy, 63, 1139–50.Google Scholar
Geeraert, A. (2016). It’s not that easy being green: The environmental dimension of the European Union’s sports policy. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 40 (1), 62–81.Google Scholar
Giordano, T. (2014). Multi-level integrated planning and greening of public infrastructure in South Africa. Planning Theory and Practice, 15 (4), 480–504.Google Scholar
Goria, A., Sgobbi, A., & Von Homeyer, I. (2010) (eds.). Governance for the environment: A comparative analysis of environmental policy integration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Hertin, J., & Berkhout, F. (2003). Analysing institutional strategies for environmental policy integration: The case of EU enterprise policy. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, 5 (1), 39–56.Google Scholar
Hogl, K., Kvarda, E., Nordbeck, R., & Pregernig, M. (2012). Effectiveness and legitimacy of environmental governance synopsis of key insights. In Hogl, K, Kvarda, E, Nordbeck, R, & Pregernig, M (eds.), Environmental governance: The challenge of legitimacy and effectiveness (pp. 280–304). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Huttunen, S. (2015). Farming practices and experienced policy coherence in agri-environmental policies: The case of land clearing in Finland. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, 17 (6), 573–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Council for Science (2017). A guide to SDG interactions: from science to implementation. Paris: International Council for Science.Google Scholar
Jacob, K., Volkery, A., & Lenschow, A. (2008). Instruments for environmental policy integration in 30 OECD countries. In Jordan, A & Lenschow, A (eds.), Innovation in environmental policy? Integrating the environment for sustainability (pp. 24–45). Cheltenham: Edwar Elgar.Google Scholar
Jordan, A. J., & Lenschow, A. (2008). Innovation in environmental policy? Integrating the environment for sustainability. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jordan, A., & Lenschow, A. (2000), ‘Greening’ the European Union: What can be learned from the ‘leaders’ of EU environmental policy? European Environment, 10 (3), 109–210.Google Scholar
Jordan, A., Schout, A., & Unfried, M. (2008). The European Union. In Jordan, A, & Lenschow, A (eds.), Innovation in environmental policy? Integrating the environment for sustainability (pp. 159–79). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Jordan, A., & Lenschow, A. (2010). Environmental policy integration: a state of the art review. Environmental Policy and Governance, 20, 147–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalaba, F. K., Quinn, C. H., & Dougill, A. J. (2014). Policy coherence and interplay between Zambia’s forest, energy, agricultural and climate change policies and multilateral environmental agreements. International Environmental Agreements, 14 (2), 181–98.Google Scholar
Kanie, N., & Biermann, F. (2017) (eds.). Governing through goals: Sustainable Development Goals as governance innovation. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Kivimaa, P., & Mickwitz, P. (2006). The challenge of greening technologies: Environmental policy integration in Finnish technology policies. Research Policy, 35 (5), 729–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knudsen, J. K., & Lafferty, W. M. (2016). Environmental policy integration: The importance of balance and trade-offs. In Fisher, D (ed.), Research handbook on fundamental concepts in environmental law (pp. 337–68). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Lafferty, W. M., & Hovden, E. (2003). Environmental policy integration: Towards an analytical framework. Environmental Politics, 12 (3), 1–22.Google Scholar
Lafferty, W. M. (ed.) (2004). Governance for sustainable development: The challenge of adapting form to function. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Lafferty, W. M., Knudsen, J., & Larsen, O. M. (2007). Pursuing sustainable development in Norway: The challenge of living up to Brundtland at home. European Environment, 17 (3), 177–88.Google Scholar
Lenschow, A. (1997). Variation in EC environmental policy integration: Agency push within complex institutional structures. Journal of European Public Policy, 4 (1), 109–27.Google Scholar
Lenschow, A. (2002). Greening the European Union: An introduction. In Lenschow, A (ed.), Environmental policy integration: Greening sectoral policies in Europe (pp. 3–21). London: Earthscan.Google Scholar
McCauley, D. (2015). Sustainable development in energy policy: A governance assessment of environmental stakeholder inclusion in waste-to-energy. Sustainable Development, 23 (5), 273–84.Google Scholar
Meadowcroft, J., Langhelle, O., & Ruud, A. (eds.) (2012). Governance, democracy and sustainable development: Moving beyond the impasse. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Meadowcroft, J., & Fiorino, D. J. (eds.) (2017). Conceptual innovation in environmental policy. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Mickwitz, P., Aix, F., Beck, S. et al. (2009). Climate policy integration, coherence and governance. Helsinki: Partnership for European Environmental Research.Google Scholar
Mullally, G., & Dunphy, N. P. (2015). State of play review of environmental policy integration literature. Dublin: National Economic and Social Council.Google Scholar
Negev, M. (2016). Interagency aspects of environmental policy: The case of environmental health. Environmental Policy and Governance, 26 (3), 205–19.Google Scholar
Nilsson, M. (2005). Learning, frames and environmental policy integration: The case of Swedish energy policy. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 23 (2), 207–26.Google Scholar
Nilsson, M. Eklund, M., & Tyskeng, S. (2009). Environmental integration and policy implementation: Competing governance modes in waste management decision making. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 27 (1), 1–18.Google Scholar
Nilsson, M., & Persson, Å. (2017). Policy note: Lessons from environmental policy integration for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Environmental Science and Policy, 78, 36–39.Google Scholar
Nunan, F., Campbell, A., & Foster, E. (2012). Environmental mainstreaming: The organisational challenges of policy integration. Public Administration and Development, 32 (3), 262–77.Google Scholar
Oberthür, S. (2009). Interplay management: Enhancing environmental policy integration among international institutions. International Environmental Agreements, 9 (4), 371–91.Google Scholar
Ortolano, L., & Shepherd, A. (1995). Environmental impact assessment: Challenges and opportunities. Impact Assessment, 13 (1), 3–30.Google Scholar
Park, M. S., & Youn, Y.-C. (2017). Reforestation policy integration by the multiple sectors toward forest transition in the Republic of Korea. Forest Policy and Economics, 76, 45–55.Google Scholar
Persson, Å., Runhaar, H., Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen, S., Mullally, G., Russel, D., & Widmer, A. (2018). Editorial: Environmental policy integration: Taking stock of policy practice in different contexts. Environmental Science and Policy, 85, 113–15.Google Scholar
Persson, Å. (2004). Environmental policy integration: An introduction. Stockholm: Stockholm Environment Institute.Google Scholar
Persson, Å., Eckerberg, K., & Nilsson, M. (2016). Institutionalization or wither away? Twenty-five years of environmental policy integration under shifting governance models in Sweden. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 34 (3), 478–95.Google Scholar
Persson, Å. (2009). Environmental policy integration and bilateral development assistance: Challenges and opportunities with an evolving governance framework. International Environmental Agreements, 9 (4), 409–29.Google Scholar
Regina, K., Budiman, A., Greve, M. H. et al. (2015). GHG mitigation of agricultural peatlands requires coherent policies. Climate Policy, 16 (4), 522–41.Google Scholar
Revell, A. (2005). Ecological modernization in the UK: Rhetoric or reality? European Environment, 15 (6), 344–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosendal, G. K. (2012). Adjusting Norwegian agricultural policy to the WTO through multifunctionality: Utilizing the environmental potential? Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, 14 (2), 209–27.Google Scholar
Ruddy, T. F., & Hilty, L. M. (2008). Impact assessment and policy learning in the European Commission. Environmental Impact Assessment, 28, 90–105.Google Scholar
Runhaar, H. (2016). Tools for integrating environmental objectives into policy and practice: What works where? Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 59, 1–9.Google Scholar
Runhaar, H., Wilk, B., Persson, Å., Uittenbroek, C., & Wamsler, C. (2018). Mainstreaming climate adaptation: Taking stock about ‘what works’ from empirical research worldwide. Regional Environmental Change, 18 (4), 1201–10.Google Scholar
Runhaar, H., Driessen, P., & Uittenbroek, C. (2014). Towards a systematic framework for the analysis of environmental policy integration. Environmental Policy and Governance, 24 (4), 233–46.Google Scholar
Runhaar, H., Driessen, P., & Soer, L. (2009). Sustainable urban development and the challenge of policy integration. An assessment of planning tools for integrating spatial and environmental planning in the Netherlands. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 36 (3), 417–31.Google Scholar
Schout, A., & Jordan, A. (2005). Coordinated European governance: Self-organizing or centrally steered? Public Administration, 83 (1), 201–20.Google Scholar
Scobie, M. (2016), Policy coherence in climate governance in Caribbean small island developing states. Environmental Science and Policy, 58, 16–28.Google Scholar
Selianko, I., & Lenschow, A. (2015). Energy policy coherence from an intra-institutional perspective: Energy security and environmental policy coordination within the European Commission. European Integration Online Papers 19 (2), 1–29.Google Scholar
Simeonova, V., & van der Valk, A. (2010). The role of an area-oriented approach in achieving environmental policy integration in the Netherlands, and its applicability in Bulgaria. European Planning Studies, 18 (9), 1411–43.Google Scholar
Simeonova, V., & van der Valk, A. (2016). Environmental policy integration: Towards a communicative approach in integrating nature conservation and urban planning in Bulgaria. Land Use Policy, 57, 80–93.Google Scholar
Söderberg, C. (2011). Institutional conditions for multi-sector environmental policy integration in Swedish bioenergy policy. Environmental Politics, 20 (4), 528–46.Google Scholar
Söderberg, C. (2014). What drives sub-national bioenergy development? Exploring cross-level implications of environmental policy integration in EU and Swedish bioenergy policy. European Journal of Government and Economics, 3 (2), 119–37.Google Scholar
Söderberg, C. (2016). Complex governance structures and incoherent policies: Implementing the EU water framework directive in Sweden. Journal of Environmental Management, 183, 90–97.Google Scholar
Stakeholder Forum (2016). Seeing the whole: Implementing the SDGs in an integrated and coherent way. London: Stakeholder Forum.Google Scholar
Storbjörk, S., Lähteenmäki-Smith, K., & Hilding-Rydevik, T. (2009). Conflict or consensus: The challenge of integrating environmental sustainability into regional development programming. European Journal of Spatial Development, 34, 1–22.Google Scholar
Storbjörk, S., & Isaksson, K. (2014). Learning is our Achilles heel: Conditions for long-term environmental policy integration in Swedish regional development programming. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 57 (7), 1023–42.Google Scholar
Tosun, J., & Lang, A. (2017). Policy integration: Mapping the different concepts. Policy Studies, 38 (6), 553–70.Google Scholar
Tosun, J., & Peters, B. G. (2018). Intergovernmental organizations’ normative commitments to policy integration: The dominance of environmental goals. Environmental Science and Policy, 82, 90–99.Google Scholar
Uittenbroek, C., Janssen-Jansen, L., Spit, T., & Runhaar, H. (2014). Organizational values and the implications for mainstreaming climate adaptation in Dutch municipalities: Using Q methodology. Journal of Water and Climate Change, 5 (3), 443–56.Google Scholar
Van Asselt, H., Rayner, T., & Persson, Å. (2015). Climate policy integration. In Bäckstrand, K, & Lövbrand, E (eds.), Research handbook on climate governance (pp. 388–99). Cheltenham: Edwar Elgar.Google Scholar
Van Stigt, R., Driessen, P., & Spit, T. (2013). Compact city development and the challenge of environmental policy integration: A multi-level governance perspective. Environmental Policy and Governance, 23 (4), 221–33.Google Scholar
Velázquez Gomar, J. O. (2014). Environmental policy integration among multilateral environmental agreements: The case of biodiversity. International Environmental Agreements, 16 (4), 525–41.Google Scholar
Watson, M., Bulkeley, H., & Hudson, R. (2008). Unpicking environmental policy integration with tales from waste management. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 26 (3), 481–98.Google Scholar
World Commission on Environment and Development (1987). Our common future. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×