Report calls for better integration of climate issues in key policy areas
Policies designed specifically to tackle climate change will only be effective if climate issues are fully integrated into other policy areas, such as taxation and land use planning, according to a new report. Entitled 'Climate policy integration, coherence and governance', the report was written by the Partnership for European Environmental Research (PEER), which groups together seven leading European environmental research institutes. The researchers assessed the extent to which climate issues have been integrated into different policy areas in a number of European countries, regions and municipalities. They also analysed measures for enhancing climate policy integration. The report reveals that the issue of climate change has moved up the agenda in recent years and now enjoy broad political support. 'It is no longer delegated to just one minister, one ministry or a few institutions,' the report reads. 'It has become a matter for prime ministers, whole cabinets and entire administrations.' At the same time, extreme weather events have highlighted the important role local and regional authorities must play in responding to climate change. According to PEER, climate change adaptation and mitigation are now increasingly being included in general government programmes and strategies. The next step is to ensure that climate change is given more political weight and extend the inclusion of climate change issues into specific policy instruments. This means transforming the way in which instruments are shaped and implemented, the authors write. For example, in the case of spatial planning or budgeting, they write: 'It is important [...] that it does not become simply a question of reforming planning and budgeting processes - these are just means - but that the climate factor actually brings about a real change in land use plans and that funds are allocated in such a way that mitigation and adaptation by companies and individuals can be achieved.' 'Although the inclusion of climate change mitigation and adaptation in general governmental programmes and strategies has substantially increased in recent years, much more is needed in terms of integrating climate issues into specific policy measures,' said the report's lead author, Dr Per Mickwitz, from the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE). 'Annual budgets, environmental impact assessments and spatial planning procedures are three examples of existing measures which we believe have significant potential to be climate policy instruments.' The report also highlights the growing trend for viewing climate change not as a problem exclusively, but also as an opportunity for innovation and the creation of new jobs and markets. However, integrating climate change into a wide range of policy areas is not without problems, and may lead to conflicts. For example, many countries are now reopening the debate on nuclear power in the framework of their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 'In these cases, the successful integration of climate change will depend largely on the ability to handle general conflicts over ideology and values,' the report states. 'As PEER Chair, I know how important it is to work together within Europe to ensure that future decisions will be based on the best information available, minimising risks and, in some cases, turning threats into opportunities,' commented Professor Pat Nuttall of the UK's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. 'There is a huge need for increased policy and programme evaluation from a climate change perspective, and this report is a first step towards achieving this goal.'