Public Participation in the Environmental Regulatory Process and its Influence on Environmental Outcomes

On 7 November 2007, an Ecologic Transatlantic Lunch Dialogue was held in Berlin in honour of Jason Johnston. Jason Johnston is the Robert G. Fuller, Jr. Professor and Director, of the Program on Law, Environment and Economy at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in Philadelphia, PA USA. The transatlantic lunch dialogue was held in advance of his Lecture on "Climate Change Policy for Realists" on  29 November, 2007 at the American Academy in Berlin as part of the Bosch Public Policy Lecture Series.  He is currently on sabbatical to conduct research related to public participation in environmental policy development, climate change and environmental law.

In his remarks Jason explained the focus of his research, "Public Participation in the Environmental Regulatory Process and its Influence on Environmental Outcomes: a Comparative Study, Germany and the U.S.".  Johnston’s research to date suggests that in the German system, there is indeed public participation in the environmental regulatory process, but it occurs at different stages in the process than under the American system, and differently in different environmental regulatory sectors (air versus water pollution, for example).  Moreover, preliminary modeling of regulatory outcomes suggest that the German system of environmental public participation may well result in positive environmental outcomes that are actually more environmentally protective than the actual outcomes in the United States.  His research in Germany is therefore directed to uncovering information about institutions and practices of public participation in German environmental policymaking and regulation in different sectors.

During the subsequent discussion, the group had the opportunity to address a number of topics related to climate change and environmental policy.  R. Andreas Kraemer, the Director of Ecologic opened the discussion by providing a summary of Ecologic’s role and activities related to international environmental policy and the importance of transatlantic dialogue and information exchange.  Of particular interest to the group was the non-traditional use of legislation for environmental improvement, particularly human rights legislation.  Ralph Czarnecki of Ecologic was able to provide examples from his experience as an Environmental Lawyer and explained the ability of individuals to affect environmental change through litigation (USA Clean Air Act; German Administrative Courts, EU complaint driven process).  Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic shared her expertise and experience as a representative of the German Delegation for the post-Kyoto 2012 negotiations. Heike Hildebrand, responsible for Institute Development at

Ecologic, raised the issues of environmental education, and the role of Environmental NGO’s in policy development and implementation in Germany.  Meredith Carter, a Transatlantic Fellow from Canada outlined her research interests related to water management, drinking water source protection, and the WFD.  The afternoon concluded with a discussion about future collaborative transatlantic research, opportunities between American Universities, research institutions and Ecologic, related to climate change, biodiversity, and environmental economics.