UK new Prime Minister and her focus on Africa
Dr Andrew Tchie, on BBC World News, touches on what the relationship between the new UK Prime Minister Liz Truss and Africa will be moving forward.
Understanding Africa’s Adaptability to Peace and Security Challenges
Dr Andrew Tchie reviews the book "African Peacekeeping Training Centres: Socialisation as a Tool for Peace?"
Dei politiske følgja av sanksjonar i Russland
Ein sentral motivasjon bak økonomiske sanksjonar har tradisjonelt vore å fremje politisk endring, enten ved press på regime eller ved å støtte politisk opposisjon. I kva grad har sanksjonar lykkast i dette arbeidet?
Er forseinking den nye fornektinga i klimapolitikk?
I seinare tid har vi sett ein nedgang av open klimafornekting. Derfor spør vi på dette seminaret om forseinking er den nye fornektinga?
Klimaklubbkvaler
Norges internasjonale klimapolitikk har alltid hatt som målsetting å oppnå et mest mulig enhetlig globalt klimaregime. Parisavtalen reflekterer i stedet – og bidrar til å forsterke – et fragmentert klimaregime med et mylder av nye samarbeidsformer mellom land. I denne artikkelen trekker vi frem tre trender som preger det nye klimaregimet: et skifte fra klima- til grønn industripolitikk; økende spenning mellom klima- og handelspolitikk; og tettere sammenkobling mellom klima- og petroleumspolitikk. Vi viser hvordan nye klimaklubber både lager nye spilleregler og oppstår som motsvar til disse. Vi ønsker med dette å vise hvordan et fragmentert klimaregime fører til nye rammevilkår og utfordringer for norsk klimapolitikk. Klimaklubbkvalene omfatter både problemstillinger knyttet til hvem Norge skal samarbeide med og hvordan slikt samarbeid skal formaliseres, men også konsekvensene av å samarbeide med noen fremfor andre.
A functional approach to decentralization in the electricity sector: learning from community choice aggregation in California
Decentralization of the electricity sector has mainly been studied in relation to its infrastructural aspect, particularly location and size of the generation units, and only recently more attention has been paid to the governance aspects. This article examines power sector (de)centralization operationalized along three functional dimensions: political, administrative and economic. We apply this framework to empirically assess the changes in California’s electricity market, which saw the emergence of institutional innovation in the form of community choice aggregation (CCA). Unpacking the Californian case illustrates how decision-making has moved from central state government and regulators to the municipal level in uneven ways and without decentralized generation keeping pace. We also explore the impacts this multidimensional and diversified decentralization has on the ultimate goals of energy transition: decarbonization and energy security. Our framework and empirical findings challenge the conventional view on decentralization and problematize the widespread assumptions of its positive influence on climate mitigation and grid stability.
How the process of transitions shapes the politics of decarbonization: Tracing policy feedback effects across phases of the energy transition
Policy feedback has been applied as a theoretical concept in exploring the political dynamics of domestic energy transitions. However, theory-oriented work is needed to apply the concept to studies of technological change processes. This article explores two technology feedback effects – technology maturity and socio-technical fit – that add external pressure for policy adaption. These are theorized as enabling a correction mechanism through learning that can partly counter positive policy feedback effects. Thus, the co-evolution process between renewable energy policy instruments and technologies is conceptualized as involving increasing return processes leading to sticky policies, balanced by correction mechanisms that support a more plastic view on policies. This argument is explored through a longitudinal case study of the co-evolution of policy instruments and solar photovoltaics in California.
Ban or Regulate? A Critical Juncture in New York’s Fossil Fuel Regulation
In this chapter I examine the political process leading up to the ban on hydraulic fracturing in New York State. I identify the early phase ending with the governor’s decision to update the state’s environmental review guidelines for permitting in 2008 as a critical juncture. In retrospect this was a near miss for the oil and gas industry. The decision changed the rules of the game to one where the opposition to hydraulic fracturing defended status quo and gave grassroot organisations time to mobilize. The case illustrates that political feasibility of restrictive supply-side climate policies, such as banning fossil fuel production, is not something we can defined with a predefined set of variables. Instead political feasibility is created through the political process. Furthermore, I note an increasing use of supply-side policy measures since the ban. This suggests that the decision to ban hydraulic fracturing also marks an acceleration of the state’s transition towards a low-carbon energy economy.
Energy Transition and Social Movements: The Rise of a Community Choice Movement in California
This chapter examines the rise of a community choice movement in California. Here local governments launch community choice aggregation programs, one after the other, that promise higher renewable energy content than the existing investor-owned utilities. I view the movement as an expression of local climate interests fused with anti-utility resentment, and use the three lenses from social movement theory—political opportunities, mobilizing structures and framing processes—to analyze the emergence and development of the movement. This bottom-up process unfolds in a state that has some of the most ambitious climate policies and renewable energy goals in the US. The effectiveness of the community choice model as a climate policy tool is contested. However, the movement’s aim is not only to decarbonize the electricity system but to build an electricity system that utilizes more local renewable energy resources.