Policy Avenues towards a Climate-Neutral Europe

Publication: Report
Citation: Görlach, Benjamin, Leon Martini, Ricarda Faber, Aaron Best, Pol Fontanet Pérez (2022): Report on core instruments and avenues for transformative climate policies. 4i-TRACTION Deliverable 4.1. Ecologic Institute; Berlin.

The report maps out four policy avenues for how the EU could attain climate neutrality. The policy avenues consist of a mix of policy instruments sequenced over time, and the institutional arrangements to deliver them. Each policy avenue embodies a different paradigm, i.e., a different approach to (climate) policymaking. They thus sketch different paths that the EU could follow to align its climate policy with the goal of climate neutrality by 2050.

The policy avenues were developed with expert stakeholders in a policy lab, consisting of several workshops. The experts were given the task to sketch what transformative EU climate policy could look like when following one of the four paradigms. The resulting policy avenues were further developed by the research team and are described in the report.

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Language: English
Authorship: Benjamin Görlach

Leon Martini

Ricarda Faber

Aaron Best

Pol Fontanet Pérez
Credits: This report would not have been possible without the experts that participated in the 4i-TRACTION policy lab. We are thankful for their generosity with their time and their valuable insights. Moreover, the authors would like to thank Bettina Kampman (CE Delft), Harm Rienks (WUR), and Claire Dupont (U Ghent) for constructive feedback on a draft of this report. Matthias Duwe (Ecologic Institute) provided valuable input to the conceptualisation of the policy lab. Brendan Moore (VUB) and Emiel van der Toorn (CE Delft) helped realising the workshop in Brussels. So did Jonathan Gardiner (Ecologic Institute), who also provided important editorial support. Several consortium members, who participated at the pilot in Berlin and at the internal workshops, provided useful comments. A special thanks to Dexter Docherty, Trish Lavery (both OECD), Vadim Konnenko (EEA), and Hanna Parnow (ZOE) for their guidance in designing the co-creative workshops and foresight activities. All errors and omissions remain
those of the authors
Funding: European Commission, Directorate-General Research & Innovation (DG Research & Innovation), International
Published by: Ecologic Institute, Germany
Year: 2022
Dimension: 141 pp.
Project: Transformative Policies for a Climate-neutral European Union (4i-TRACTION)
Project ID: 33007
Table of contents: Click to show full table of contents

Executive Summary
1. Introduction
2. Approach
2.1 Overall approach
2.2 Policy lab process
3. Paradigms of climate policymaking
3.1 From schools of thought to policy paradigms
3.2 The four selected paradigms
3.2.1 Neoclassical environmental economics
3.2.2 Industrial policy and mission innovation
3.2.3 Planned transition approaches
3.2.4 Post-growth, de-growth, and ecological economics
3.3 The four paradigms in current EU climate policy
4. Four policy avenues towards a climate-neutral EU
4.1 Policy avenue 1: Green Economic Liberalism
4.1.1 Core ideas and principles of the policy avenue
4.1.2 Description of the policy avenue
4.1.3 Tackling the 4i’s
4.1.3.1 How will the policy avenue address innovation?
4.1.3.2 How will the policy avenue address investment and finance?
4.1.3.3 How will the policy avenue address infrastructure?
4.1.3.4 How will the policy avenue address integration?
4.2 Policy avenue 2: Green Industrial Policy
4.2.1 Core ideas and principles of the policy avenue
4.2.2 Description of the policy avenue
4.2.3 Tackling the 4i’s
4.2.3.1 How will the policy avenue address innovation?
4.2.3.2 How will the policy avenue address investment and finance?
4.2.3.3 How will the policy avenue address infrastructure?
4.2.3.4 How will the policy avenue address integration?
4.3 Policy avenue 3: Directed Transition
4.3.1 Core ideas and principles of the policy avenue
4.3.2 Description of the policy avenue
4.3.3 Tackling the 4i’s
4.3.3.1 How will the policy avenue address innovation?
4.3.3.2 How will the policy avenue address investment and finance?
4.3.3.3 How will the policy avenue address infrastructure?
4.3.3.4 How will the policy avenue address integration?
4.4 Policy avenue: Sufficiency and Degrowth
4.4.1 Core ideas and principles of the policy avenue
4.4.2 Description of the policy avenue
4.4.3 Tackling the 4i’s
4.4.3.1 How will the policy avenue address innovation?
4.4.3.2 How will the policy avenue address investment and finance?
4.4.3.3 How will the policy avenue address infrastructure?
4.4.3.4 How will the policy avenue address integration?
5. Core policy instruments across the avenues
6. Governance implications and political context
6.1 Political feasibility
6.2 Robustness in turbulent times
6.3 Whither reform? Implications for EU politics
7. Conclusion
8. References
Annex A: Policy Lab material
Annex B: Policy avenue posters
Annex C: List of policy instruments
Keywords: Climate

Climate Foreign Policy

Energy

EU

Europe