An article examined the enforcement of European Union environmental law in light of the case law of the European Court of Justice.
Source: Koen Lenaerts and Jose Gutierrez-Fons, 'The general system of EU environmental law enforcement', Yearbook of European Law, Volume 30 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Dec
A chapter in the 2011-12 British Social Attitudes Survey report examined public attitudes to environmental issues. Public concern about the threat posed by different types of environmental pollution had declined over the previous decade, and scepticism concerning the seriousness of such threats had increased. 37 per cent of respondents thought that many claims about environmental threats were exaggerated, up from 24 per cent in 2000.
Source: Eleanor Taylor, 'Concern about climate change: a paler shade of green?' (in Alison Park, Elizabeth Clery, John Curtice, Miranda Phillips, and David Utting (eds.), British Social Attitudes 28: 2011-2012 Edition), SAGE Publications
Links: Chapter | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Dec
A report examined ways in which people's sense of fairness around sustainable consumption and climate change could be used to build public support for behaviour change and sustainability policies.
Source: Tim Horton and Natan Doron, Climate Change and Sustainable Consumption: What do the public think is fair?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2011-Dec
A report examined whether changes towards 'greener' forms of consumption were compatible with preserving a minimum acceptable standard of living. People were more likely to regard greener ways of living as socially acceptable where price differences caused them to see non-green consumption as a 'luxury'. They were reluctant to accept measures that restricted choices, caused time inconvenience, or compromised safety.
Source: Angela Druckman, Yvette Hartfree, Donald Hirsch, and Kim Perren, Sustainable Income Standards: Towards a Greener Minimum?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2011-Dec
A report examined how climate change issues should be taken into account in decisions about the new structures, responsibilities, and ways of working in health and social care.
Source: Andrew Ross (with Catherine Max), Changing Climate, Changing Conversations: Climate change and health reforms, Local Government Association/Social Care Institute for Excellence
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Nov
The initial findings were published from a study of the likely social distributional impacts of government energy and climate change policies. In general, those groups that were most likely to be vulnerable and/or socially excluded tended to have lower-than-average carbon dioxide emissions. The relative inelasticity of domestic fuel use was likely to mean that policies that increased the cost of domestic fuels would be regressive.
Source: Eldin Fahmy, Joshua Thumim, and Vicki White, The Distribution of UK Household CO2 Emissions: Interim Report, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report | JRF press release
Date: 2011-Nov
A study provided a guide for analyzing social vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Existing climate change policy did not adequately address many aspects of well-being that were adversely affected by climate-related hazards.
Source: Sarah Lindley, John O Neill, Joseph Kandeh, Nigel Lawson, Richard Christian, and Martin O Neill, Climate Change, Justice and Vulnerability, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report | Findings | JRF press release
Date: 2011-Nov
A report by a committee of MPs said that a 'politically motivated' review of the United Kingdom's carbon budgets in 2014 – announced by the coalition government – was undermining certainty about the future direction of climate policy.
Source: Carbon Budgets, Seventh Report (Session 2010-12), HC 1080, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Additional written evidence | CBI press release | Friends of the Earth press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Oct
A paper mapped the distribution of total direct and embodied emissions of greenhouse gases by households, and analyzed their main drivers. Existing government policies to raise carbon prices mainly in domestic energy were found to be especially regressive: but tracking total carbon consumption within a country would require radical changes in monitoring carbon flows at national borders. In the meantime, poorly targeted policies to compensate 'fuel poor' families should give way to more radical 'eco-social' policies, such as house retrofitting, coupled with 'social' tariffs for domestic energy.
Source: Ian Gough, Saamah Abdallah, Victoria Johnson, Josh Ryan-Collins, and Cindy Smith, The Distribution of Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Households in the UK, and Some Implications for Social Policy, CASEpaper 152, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (London School of Economics)
Date: 2011-Aug
A think-tank report said that some claims for the job-creation potential of the low-carbon economy were 'staggeringly far-fetched' and unsupported by official measures.
Source: John Constable, The Green Mirage: Why a low-carbon economy may be further off than we think, Civitas
Links: Summary | Civitas press release
Date: 2011-Aug
The coalition government set out its strategy for developing the potential of the 'green' economy.
Source: Enabling the Transition to a Green Economy: Government and business working together, Department for Energy and Climate Change/Department for Business, Innovation and Skills/Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Links: Strategy | Defra press release | TUC press release
Date: 2011-Aug
A paper said that the United Kingdom had started to pursue policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a relatively early date, and had a comprehensive set of measures in place. It had set clear targets for emission reductions consistent with international goals of limiting global warming, and had pioneered statutory underpinning of target-setting. But some of the success had been due to one-off factors, and a 'step change' in the pace of emission reductions was required in order to put the UK on the path towards its ambitious 2050 target.
Source: Alex Bowen and James Rydge, Climate-Change Policy in the United Kingdom, OECD Economics Department Working Paper 886, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Date: 2011-Aug
A report by a committee of MPs said that the Treasury had undermined public trust in 'green' taxes by appearing to use them as a revenue-raising tool rather than a serious attempt to change environmentally damaging behaviour.
Source: Budget 2011 and Environmental Taxes, Sixth Report (Session 2010-12), HC 878, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Additional written evidence
Date: 2011-Jul
The Department for Energy and Climate Change published its annual report for 2010-11.
Source: Annual Report and Accounts 2010-11, HC 1009, Department for Energy and Climate Change, TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Jul
A knowledge review explored the social and distributional impacts of climate change policy options.
Source: Ian Skinner, Alison Pridmore, Sarah Halsey, Gill Wilkins, Philip Barham, Sam Jones, Vicky Edge, and Karen Lucas, Knowledge Review of the Social and Distributional Impacts of DfT Climate Change Policy Options, Department for Transport
Date: 2011-Jul
A report examined best practice examples of social partner involvement in 'greening' the economy in different European Union member states.
Source: Katrin Vitols, Kim Lorraine Schutze, Alain Mestre, Sidoine Chavanet, Sabrina Marquant, Jean-Fran ois Poupard, and Andrzej Jakubowski, Industrial Relations and Sustainability: The role of social partners in the transition towards a green economy, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Jun
A think-tank report said that Europe needed to rethink its approach to tackling climate change. Although the European Union should retain its existing 2020 emissions reduction target, and also its high level of ambition on longer-term decarbonization, there needed to be a stronger focus on lowering the costs of climate mitigation at a global level.
Source: Boaz Moselle, Climate Change Policy: Time for Plan B, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release
Date: 2011-Jun
A paper examined whether the policies and programmes enacted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would compete with other goals of public policy, in particular social policy goals. The use of mandated electricity and gas markets would impose rising costs on the household sector, which would bear more heavily on lower-income households and would increase fuel poverty. More radical policy reforms would be needed to integrate climate change and social policy goals.
Source: Sam Marden and Ian Gough, Fiscal Costs of Climate Mitigation Programmes in the UK: A challenge for social policy?, CASEpaper 145, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (London School of Economics)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Jun
A study examined the institutional processes for drawing up climate adaptation policies in 5 European countries – Germany, Spain, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Source: Gaspard Dumollard and Alexia Leseur, Drawing Up a National Climate Change Adaptation Policy: Feedback from five European case studies, CDC Climat Research
Links: Report
Date: 2011-May
A report said that the coalition government was failing to deliver on most of its key environmental policy pledges. Many policies had been delayed, watered down, or even abandoned. There had been 'little or no progress' in over three-quarters of the 77 policies examined.
Source: Jonathon Porritt, 'The Greenest Government Ever': One Year On, Friends of the Earth
Links: Report | FOE press release | Guardian report
Date: 2011-May
A new book examined how European Union-wide environmental tax reform could help Europe meet its targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Source: Paul Ekins and Stefan Speck (eds.), Environmental Tax Reform (ETR): A policy for green growth – Creating sustainable growth in Europe, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-May
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published a revised business plan, covering the period 2011-2015.
Source: Business Plan 2011-2015, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Date: 2011-May
A report by a committee of MPs said that billions of pounds of vital investment in green energy projects could be lost if the government watered down its plans for a Green Investment Bank.
Source: The Green Investment Bank, Second Report (Session 2010-11), HC 505, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | TUC press release | UKSIF press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Mar
A study examined the vulnerability of disadvantaged coastal communities to climate change, and the implications for adaptation responses.
Source: Mary Zsamboky, Amalia Fern ndez-Bilbao, David Smith, Jasper Knight, and James Allan, Impacts of Climate Change on Disadvantaged UK Coastal Communities, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2011-Mar
The European Commission published plans aimed at deepening energy savings and moving towards a low-carbon economy. It said that the European Union should be aiming to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 44 per cent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels.
Source: A Roadmap for Moving to a Competitive Low Carbon Economy in 2050, European Commission
Links: Report | European Commission press release | EEB press release | Friends of the Earth press release
Date: 2011-Mar
The government published a draft cross-departmental action plan on climate change and reducing carbon emissions. It said that a final version would be published in the autumn of 2011.
Source: Carbon Plan, Department for Energy and Climate Change
Links: Plan | DPM press release | Liberal Democrats press release | CBI press release | Friends of the Earth press release | Green Party press release | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Mar
A new book examined the intersection of social policy and environmental policy issues.
Source: Tony Fitzpatrick (ed.), Understanding the Environment and Social Policy, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Feb
A report examined whether the European Union emissions trading scheme had lived up to its promise to 'promote reductions of greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective and economically efficient manner'; and if not, what the prospects were of it doing so in the future, and what additional changes would be required.
Source: Christian Egenhofer, Monica Alessi, Anton Georgiev, and Noriko Fujiwara, The EU Emissions Trading System and Climate Policy Towards 2050: Real incentives to reduce emissions and drive innovation?, Centre for European Policy Studies (Brussels)
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Jan
A report by a committee of the European Commission examined the employment dimension of tackling climate change. It looked at how to define the scope of 'green' jobs, and how environmental policies would affect labour markets.
Source: Towards a Greener Labour Market: The employment dimension of tackling environmental challenges, Employment Committee, European Commission
Links: Report | European Commission press release
Date: 2011-Jan