The effects of the economic crisis on environmental policy-making

Schuelke, Sanja Ramona (2014) The effects of the economic crisis on environmental policy-making. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The financial crisis in 2008 has severe effects and impact on governments and policy-making worldwide. Many studies have analysed the impacts of the financial crisis on pol-icy areas (e.g. Starke, 2013), but only little has been done in the field of environmental policy. This study analyses the question on what impact the crisis had on environmental policy-making in Germany and Ireland with the use of secondary quantitative and qualitative data analysis in a comparative research design. It turned out that environmental policy-making did not suffer more than other policy areas from the crisis. Environmental policy-performance during and after the crisis is positively influenced by centralised decision-making and the absence of veto points. In Ireland, problem pressure of fiscal austerity, the EU-IMF-Programme, as well as EU regulations and frameworks were important factors for environmental policy-making. Compared to that, Germany has started its energy transition and is currently struggling to build a co-herent energy policy concept for renewables and make the transition affordable without neglecting industry interests. Due to exemptions for industry branches Germany seems to have lost its leading role in climate policy for now, but can still rely on a comprehensive environmental policy framework.

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