Mitigating global warming: traditional versus alternative approaches in a planning versus a market context
Introduction
Means of environmental control can be assessed from a number of perspectives. One perspective emphasises on economic efficiency, where an input, e.g. administrative costs, is weighed against an output, e.g. reduced emissions. Regulative approaches of the command and control type tend to score low, and market-based means score high (Turner et al., 1994). Nevertheless, politicians hesitate to use economic means, so that political acceptability has become another threshold (Bohm and Russell, 1985). However, these criteria do not explain why a decision is difficult to make or why a decision that is made is not implemented. Other perspectives are thus called for in which the black-box between the end points is inspected. I use findings from organisational theory (Brunsson, 1989; Hernes, 1978) and negotiation theory (Fisher and Ury, 1982; Raiffa, 1982; Susskind and Cruikshank, 1987) to identify the strengths and weaknesses of four means of environmental control in their practical application en route to an energy system that is compatible with sustainable development. These are an environmental tax, a licensing trial, municipal energy planning, and technology procurement.
Section snippets
Database
This is a synthesis of case studies previously presented and analysed (Olerup (1998), Olerup (2000), Olerup (2001a), Olerup (2001b)).1 Each of these papers deals with a certain means of control with one exception. Since one of the means (the environmental tax) turned out to be a non-decision, it was included in just one of the other studies (the one about the licensing trial) and replaced by a background study
Four means of environmental control in a two-dimensional diagram
Before plunging into the empirical material, I develop a structure against which it can be understood. First, I characterise the different means of environmental control in general terms and in relation to one another. Second, I describe the theoretical background to the diagram that I use as my analytical tool and will elaborate on throughout the paper.
Strengths and weaknesses of the four means of control
The cases that I have examined concern efforts made in Sweden during the 1990s to mitigate the threat of global warming. Three of the four means (environmental tax, licensing trial, and municipal energy planning) actually came to be involved in a single situation, which occurred in the City of Uppsala (the fourth largest city in Sweden). Civil servants at the national and local levels wanted to reduce the use of peat. Their options were to include peat in the CO2 tax and thereby make it
Diagonal similarities suggesting a third dimension
Although there was no winner in the comparison made above, the qualities identified in technology procurement turned out to be particularly favourable considering the processes of decision-making and implementation. Those qualities can thus be turned into a model against which the three other means (environmental tax, licensing trial, and municipal energy planning) can be compared and understood at a more general level (see Fig. 4).
The model identifies two thresholds that have to be passed for
Conclusions
Organisational theory and negotiation theory are used to identify strengths and weaknesses of four means of environmental control in their practical application enroute to an energy system compatible with sustainable development. A strength in one of them turns into a weakness when viewed from a different angle, just as a weakness in one of them could be attended to if combined with a different means of control. Consequently, each means of control has its particular niche. Environmental taxes
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the Swedish National Energy Administration (STEM) and the Swedish Council for Building Research (BFR).
References (44)
- et al.
Bridging the transatlantic publishing gaphow North American reviewers evaluate European idiographic research
Scandinavian Journal of Management
(1997) - et al.
Comparative analysis of alternative policy instruments
Deciding for responsibility and legitimationalternative interpretations of organizational decision-making
Accounting. Organizations and Society
(1990)European environmental taxes and chargesrecent experience, issues and trends
Ecological Economics
(1999)Scope and limit of the market mechanism in environmental management
Ecological Economics
(1998)- et al.
A theory of the temporary organization
Scandinavian Journal of Management
(1995) Energy services a smoke screen
Energy Policy
(1998)Technology development in market networks
Energy Policy
(2001)Managing strategies incrementally
Omega
(1982)Evolutionary strategies in environmental policy
Ecological Economics
(1997)
Values, ideology and politics in ecological economics
Ecological Economics
Environmental taxes on fuels and electricitysome experiences from the Nordic countries
Energy Policy
The Irrational Organization. Irrationality as a Basis for Organizational Action and Change
The Organization of Hypocrisy. Talk, Decisions and Actions in Organizations
Strategies for environmental controla comparison between regulation and centralized control in Germany and reforms leading to decentralized control in Sweden
Business Strategy and the Environment
Organizing environmental control in temporary local organizations
Business Strategy and the Environment
Cited by (7)
Management and stakeholder participation in local strategic energy planning - Examples from Sweden
2015, Journal of Cleaner ProductionCitation Excerpt :Historically, however, the effectiveness of producing such documents has been questioned. For example, many of the factors influencing the energy system lie beyond the reach of local authorities, such as implementation of energy efficient measures in households and industry (Guy and Marvin, 1996; Olerup, 2000, 2002; Palm, 2004, 2006). In this paper, we have chosen to analyse the energy strategy development process in relation to the steps in the PDSA cycle in order to reflect on how/whether energy strategy development can benefit from a more cyclic process approach where learning is an important factor.
Croatia energy planning and Kyoto Protocol
2005, Energy PolicyStakeholder collaboration in energy transition: Experiences from urban testbeds in the baltic sea region
2020, Sustainability (Switzerland)Stakeholder participation in municipal energy and climate planning – experiences from Sweden
2016, Local EnvironmentA practical approach to stakeholder participation in local energy management
2015, Advances in Energy Research