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Governance for Climate Change Technologies

This is a cross-disciplinary project exploring the space for public participation during the consenting process for wind energy and carbon capture-and-storage projects.

Governance for Climate change teaser

10 May 2015

Project information

Dates: 2012 - 2015
 

Funded by: 
 

Project members 
 

While decision-makers are subject to legal obligations to provide opportunities for public involvement in consenting, an examination of high-level strategic planning policy suggests that in practice, very little will be up for discussion by this stage.

We also identified a certain mistrust of public participation among those making policy on the technological change thought necessary for climate change mitigation. Legally embedded rights to participate, coupled with limited opportunities to influence, create the danger that participation becomes a simple bureaucratic hurdle, frustrating for all concerned.

This project was chaired by Prof Maria Lee (UCL Laws) and jointly supported by UCL Public Policy, UCL Laws and the UCL Grand Challenge of Sustainable Cities.

Outputs

The project group has produced three articles:

  1. Public Participation and Climate Change Infrastructure, Journal of Environmental Law (Volume 25, 2012). To request a copy of this publication please email Prof Lee.
    > Policy briefing
  2. ‘Nuclear energy sounded wonderful 40 years ago’: UK citizen views on CCS, Journal of Energy Policy (Volume 66, 2014).
    > Policy briefing
  3. Public Engagement in Decision-Making on Major Wind Energy Projects, Journal of Environmental Law (Volume 27, 2015). 

It held two events:

  • A workshop to discuss the findings of the project and possible solutions to help address the problems in public participation, with representatives of the NGO sector in 2012.
    > Policy briefing
  • A policy seminar as part of the UCL Public Policy events series, on Going Low-Carbon – the Governance of Climate Change Technologies, in 2011.
    > Policy briefing

Contact us

UCL Policy Commissions are an initiative under the UCL Public Policy Strategy. They are a way of bringing together academics and researchers across disciplines to consider issues of considerable public policy importance and to attempt to address these by consolidating and synthesising knowledge and expertise. They aim to deliver novel insights derived from crossdisciplinary collaboration and to make policy recommendations on the basis of these.

If you have any questions about UCL Public Policy Commissions, please email public-policy@ucl.ac.uk.

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