Subnational governments (such as provinces, states or regions) are largely ignored in international policy documents on sustainable development, and they are not recognized in multilateral decision-making. Nevertheless, many subnational governments have launched sustainable development policies. This article examines to what extent they take global sustainable development governance into account when doing so. The theoretical framework presents two mechanisms of international influence, building mostly upon the policy convergence literature. That framework is then applied on a comparative policy analysis of five subnational governments: North Holland (the Netherlands), North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany), Wallonia (Belgium), Flanders (Belgium) and Quebec (Canada). The findings show that subnational governments with a distinct territorial identity react differently on international trends from other subnational governments. Flanders and Quebec, which have such an identity, follow the rules and decision-making procedures of the international sustainable development regime, and they translate the norms and principles into their policies. The article also finds that the influence of international policies is determined by the active participation of subnational governments in multilateral decision-making. Finally, it is argued that the legitimacy pressures exerted by international organizations on lower-level governments to adopt certain policies have a varying impact on subnational governments dependent on their domestic context. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

A growing number of local governments worldwide are addressing climate change by locally developed climate action plans (CAPs). In this paper, we analyse the first generation of voluntary and partnership-based CAPs in France. On the basis of data collected from Grenoble Alpes Métropole and other French pioneer cities, we try to find out what the experiences of these pioneer cities teach us about the triggering factors, the scope, the limitations and the conditions for success of CAPs. Our study shows that CAPs help to raise awareness about climate and energy issues and to bring local stakeholders together to develop shared solutions suited to local specificities. However, they do not seem to launch ambitious operations conducted in a cross-cutting manner. Their effective implementation depends on the resources available to authorities, as well as the incentives and support that they receive. Moreover, meeting the CAP targets requires the authorities' ability to promote and utilize partnerships to mobilize all local potential for energy efficiency and GHG emission reduction. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has grown into a central feature of the global carbon market. Besides a range of normative and evaluative research into the CDM, scholars have applied international relations perspectives in which the CDM has been analysed as an example of global governance, engaging multiple actors across administrative levels. This paper focuses on a national government and how its activities affect the CDM market. We draw on an empirical case study of China to demonstrate how governmental action can be understood in light of national institutional factors, defined as normative, cognitive or regulative elements. The paper describes and explains the extensiveness of Chinese government action regarding the CDM and discusses its consequences for the market. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

New Public Management has been a catalyst for monitoring activities in the public sector. Although monitoring of policy processes is quite prevalent, the utilization of monitoring data remains underexplored. This article analyses the utilization of information generated by the Dutch Network Ecological Monitoring (NEM), by first looking at its characteristics. We then distinguish between theoretical approaches to utilizing monitoring data and the critical factors for utilizing monitoring suggested by these approaches. Finally, the NEM is used to draw empirical and theoretical conclusions with respect to the utilization of information from performance monitoring. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

The use of environmental policy instruments as an effective approach for wastewater management has been of increasing debate. The relevant literature is mainly directed to the role of these instruments for the mitigation of air emissions, although occasionally policy implications for wastewater are noted. Empirical evidence regarding the performance of environmental instruments in wastewater management is scarce. There is thus often a discrepancy between the design and application stages of an instrument by a failure to attain the pursued targets in wastewater policy. This paper investigates the appropriateness of major applied environmental instruments and of combinatory options for wastewater pollution control. The research is based on an international survey of experienced experts and decision-makers in developed urban wastewater systems. The results suggest a strong preference for taxes and, to a lesser extent, for command-and-control approaches. The country origin of the respondents appears to be a significant factor for the preference of particular instruments. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

The principle of ‘polluter pays’ is fundamental to environmental law. However, the principle becomes problematic in the case of environmental damage caused during conflict. The international community acknowledges that reparation should be forthcoming, but it is not clear in every case how compensation should be funded. Compensation related to environmental damage caused by military intervention has been settled by either diplomacy or political means. In the summer of 2006 Israel entered into a conflict with Lebanon that had substantial environmental impacts, including a major oil spill on the Lebanese coast and forest fires in Israel. The situation is complex because, although the Israeli attacks were sanctioned by the Israeli state, the Hezbollah actions were carried out independently of the Lebanese government. We analyze the different settlement schemes available and their applicability in such a case. The analysis is framed by the three main methods of international dispute settlement between conflicting parties. The paper concludes that the only way to claim compensation would be through unilateral recourse to the United Nations Security Council. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Scholars have tended to treat the European Union (EU) as an environmental ‘leader’. Yet significant potential nonetheless exists for it to learn lessons in areas such as water policy where it has a long and successful history of involvement. The EU's Water Framework Directive (2000) imposes potentially far reaching requirements on its Member States to enhance public participation in the process of catchment management. However, to date, its implementation has been highly variable across and even within individual states. As the EU starts to revise the original Directive, thoughts will turn to how the current situation could be improved. One potentially productive avenue, which has not yet been fully explored, is to draw lessons on public participation from comparable multi-levelled governance contexts such as in the USA and Australia, where public engagement has arguably been more advanced. Drawing on theoretical accounts of the most likely facilitators and obstacles to lesson drawing, this paper assesses the scope for transfer. It finds that while the EU could potentially learn from these jurisdictions, there are likely to be significant obstacles in practice. These should be born in mind by would-be policy learners. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Degradation of agricultural soils is a serious concern in transition countries in the EU. We investigate similarities and differences between the soil conservation policy frameworks of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and the former German Democratic Republic and their implementation. Our focus is on the differences in institutional arrangements, i.e. formally existing policies, property rights, informal institutions and governance structures. We conducted comparative case studies based on a framework of institutional analysis, using literature survey, document analysis and in-depth stakeholder interviews. Results show that among the determining factors for policy effectiveness are property rights regimes and land-use rights, traditions in the provision of advisory services, farmers' previous experience with soil conservation practices and policies, perceived threat of enforcement, and trust in administrative authorities. We conclude that the existence of similar legislation and a common policy framework does not guarantee similar outcomes because institutional arrangements and their evolution play a major role in the effectiveness of agricultural soil conservation policies. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.