Papers by Charlotte J Burns
Journal of Rural Studies, Dec 1, 2016
The ability to balance agricultural production and environmental conservation in the face of incr... more The ability to balance agricultural production and environmental conservation in the face of increasing demand for food, fuel and fibre poses a major challenge for governments around the world. This challenge is explored in two areas of comparison: Ontario, Canada and England, UK in order to understand how each has balanced agriculture and environment in its land use policies. England and Ontario share similarities that suggest lessons and instruments may be transferrable to achieve similar land use objectives. Through the use of a thematic analysis of policy documentation, from each case study area, themes are identified demonstrating differences in approaches, and underlying policy preferences, associated with balancing agriculture and the environment. Specifically, results suggest that policymakers in Ontario hold a preference for land-sparing and leanings towards the productivist paradigm, whereas the land-sharing approach coupled with evidence of post-productivism is more common in England. The structural similarities of these cases provides insights into less tangible aspects of either context, such as policymaker preferences, where different approaches have emerged from a similar foundation. Moreover, as England transitions out of the EU, it may draw on the experiences of other jurisdictions in the design of a new suite of agri-O O contributes to our understanding of the manifestation of land-sparing/sharing and productivism/post-productivism in real world policy contexts and the relationship between both sets of concepts.
Journal of European Public Policy, Mar 27, 2017
Global Environmental Change-human and Policy Dimensions, 2018
Prior to the 2015 Paris Conference of the Parties (COP), every state was requested to submit a pl... more Prior to the 2015 Paris Conference of the Parties (COP), every state was requested to submit a pledge of their own design. To date, there has been a lack of large-n studies that provide a broad picture of these pledges. We employ Discourse Network Analysis to examine critically the climate pledges of all 162 actors at the Paris COP. Our research offers four main contributions. First, we provide data regarding the mitigation and adaptation components of every national pledge. Second, we identify six types of mitigation targets, and visually cluster every state according to these formats. Third, we argue that the pledges of the Umbrella Group of non-EU developed states, and of the group of oil exporting countries, showed greater internal similarity than the group comprising Brazil, China, India and South Africa. Finally, we critique the method as a means of analysing the new global climate governance context and argue that the method offers an innovative and unique means of understanding this complex policy landscape, when applied in a specific and focused manner. Discourse Network Analysis is used to analyse all 162 Paris climate pledges. Extensive data regarding every mitigation and adaptation component is provided. Six types of mitigation targets are identified, mapped out and analysed. Certain negotiating groups are more internally similar in their pledges than others. The method provides an effective means of analysing complex negotiations.
As a result of the financial crisis of 2007/08 and the subsequent Eurozone crisis, austerity meas... more As a result of the financial crisis of 2007/08 and the subsequent Eurozone crisis, austerity measures have been implemented across Europe. Efforts to reduce public spending and roll back regulation are likely to affect the environment and environmental policy, yet the measurement of such impacts is a complex task.. A number of scholars from a range of disciplines have engaged with the question of the impact of austerity generally and specifically, in relation to the environment, but the field of study is still relatively piecemeal in character with the links between differing approaches under-explored and potential measures under-specified We identify three principal approaches in the extant literature and suggest that capturing environmental policy change requires a holistic approach that can combine the strengths of each of these measures along with more traditional research instruments. We argue that only through developing a flexible, pragmatic and multi-methodological strategy can meaningful analysis of the relationship between wider economic exogenous shocks and environmental policy goals be developed.
International Politics
Since the 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK) government ... more Since the 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK) government has been keen to persuade commentators and stakeholders that Brexit will not be bad for the UK’s environment. Rather in line with the role of Britain as a great power, the government has suggested that when it comes to the environment the UK can be a global superpower, leading other nations in its pursuit of ambitious environmental policy goals. This new environmental foreign policy role orientation has been articulated through the concept of ‘Green Brexit’ and showcased via the chairing of a major Climate Change Conference (the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Conference of the Parties (COP) 26) in Glasgow in 2021. However, whilst there was a flurry of policy activity around COP26, overall ‘Green Brexit’, has yet to be underpinned by coherent and credible domestic policy commitments necessary for effective international environmental leadership.
Politics in the European Union
This chapter examines the European Union’s (EU’s) external trade relations in the context of the ... more This chapter examines the European Union’s (EU’s) external trade relations in the context of the wider framework of global trade agreements, along with its related policies on development aid, particularly with the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) states. It first looks at the history of the EU’s trade and development aid, before discussing its contemporary external trade and development policies. It explains the workings of the common commercial policy, considers disputes within the World Trade Organization (WTO), especially with the United States, and explores the EU’s trading relationship with developing countries and near neighbours in the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). It then considers theoretical explanations of the EU’s external trade and development aid policies, as well as criticisms of such policies. Analysis of the EU’s external economic relations brings to the fore a number of theoretical themes, such as the tension between nationalism and supr...
The 25 Year Plan (YP) represents a massive opportunity to craft a national environmental policy... more The 25 Year Plan (YP) represents a massive opportunity to craft a national environmental policy for the 21 st century. But it very unclear how it will operate within the radically different and still highly uncertain governance landscape that will prevail after Brexit. The reader is often left struggling to evaluate precisely how the Plan is "drawing on the
As a result of the financial crisis of 2007/08 and the subsequent Eurozone crisis, austerity meas... more As a result of the financial crisis of 2007/08 and the subsequent Eurozone crisis, austerity measures have been implemented across Europe. Efforts to reduce public spending and roll back regulation are likely to affect the environment and environmental policy, yet the measurement of such impacts is a complex task.. A number of scholars from a range of disciplines have engaged with the question of the impact of austerity generally and specifically, in relation to the environment, but the field of study is still relatively piecemeal in character with the links between differing approaches under-explored and potential measures under-specified We identify three principal approaches in the extant literature and suggest that capturing environmental policy change requires a holistic approach that can combine the strengths of each of these measures along with more traditional research instruments. We argue that only through developing a flexible, pragmatic and multi-methodological strategy ...
JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2019
This is a repository copy of Crisis, climate change and comitology : policy dismantling via the b... more This is a repository copy of Crisis, climate change and comitology : policy dismantling via the backdoor?.
People and Nature, 2019
The decision of the UK to leave the EU has far‐reaching, and often shared, implications for agric... more The decision of the UK to leave the EU has far‐reaching, and often shared, implications for agriculture and fisheries. To ensure the future sustainability of the UK’s agricultural and fisheries systems, we argue that it is essential to grasp the opportunity that Brexit is providing to develop integrated policies that improve the management and protection of the natural environments, upon which these industries rely. This article advances a stakeholder informed vision of the future design of UK agriculture and fisheries policies. We assess how currently emerging UK policy will need to be adapted in order to implement this vision. Our starting point is that Brexit provides the opportunity to redesign current unsustainable practices and can, in principle, deliver a sustainable future for agriculture and fisheries. Underpinning policies with an ecosystem approach, explicit inclusion of public goods provision and social welfare equity were found to be key provisions for environmental, ag...
Environmental Politics, 2019
The European Union (EU) has had a profound effect upon its members' environmental policy. Even in... more The European Union (EU) has had a profound effect upon its members' environmental policy. Even in the United Kingdom (UK), the EU's most recalcitrant member state (historically labeled the 'Dirty man of Europe'), environmental policy has been Europeanised. As the UK moves to the EU's exit door it is timely to assess the utility of Europeanisation for understanding policy dynamics in the UK. Drawing upon interviews and extensive engagement with stakeholders, this article analyses the potential impact of Brexit upon environmental policy and politics. The analytical toolkit offered by de-Europeanisation is developed to identify the factors that drive and inhibit de-Europeanisation processes, thereby providing insights that may be applicable in other settings. Disengagement and policy stagnation are presented as more likely environmental outcomes of Brexit, with capacity emerging as a central explanatory variable.
Journal of European Public Policy, 2017
The European Union (EU) has been hit by financial and economic crises since 2008. To shed light u... more The European Union (EU) has been hit by financial and economic crises since 2008. To shed light upon the impact of these crises this article reviews punctuated equilibrium theory (PET) to develop expectations that are tested against two cases of financial regulation and privatisation policy. In one, despite the demand for a new model from EU leaders, limited change occurred; in the other, despite legal limitations, significant change emerged. Analysis of the cases reveals a new form of policy venue, and the suggestion that the EU PET literature must consider more systematically and explicitly the role of veto players in shaping policy change.
Ecological Economics, 2017
The European Union (EU) faces a double crisis: both economic and environmental, which has brought... more The European Union (EU) faces a double crisis: both economic and environmental, which has brought into stark relief the question of whether climate change mitigation and economic growth are mutually exclusive. Is saving the environment a 'luxury' reserved for wealthy countries, with less affluent countries being too poor to be green? We seek to address this important and timely question using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to analyse the causal relationship between economic growth and stability, and the expansion of renewable electricity shares among the European Union's (EU) 28 member states during the recent economic recession (2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013). Our paper, analyses the recent economic and financial crisis and its effects on sustainability transitions, and establishes a new indicator for progress in renewable electricity transitions in the context of Europe's 2020 targets. It therefore extends the 'sustainability as a luxury' debate to include renewable energy. The analysis reveals an ambivalent picture of the role of wealth in renewable energy transitions (RET) in Europe. Indeed, driven by the EU's common renewable energy targets, the findings suggest that RETs are promoted both because, and in spite of the means.
JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2016
The ongoing European economic crisis provides a focus for academics wishing to understand the rel... more The ongoing European economic crisis provides a focus for academics wishing to understand the relationship between major exogenous shocks and changes to environmental protection. Yet, measuring change, particularly to policies, is notoriously fraught with difficulties. This research note explores the conceptual and methodological challenges associated with capturing change in response to the economic crisis in Europe, specifically focusing upon the environment. The environment is typically touted as a European Union success story, but there is good reason to suspect that this policy sector may have been – and continues to be – negatively affected by the economic downturn. We suggest a toolkit of measures that can capture changes to this sector, and which may also be employed by researchers of other policy sectors.
Brexit represents a major change to environmental governance in Northern Ireland and the UK. Yet ... more Brexit represents a major change to environmental governance in Northern Ireland and the UK. Yet it is occurring at a time when Northern Ireland has no government, curtailing its ability to engage in both local and UK-wide preparations. Northern Irish stakeholders are worried that tensions between England and Scotland are dominating Brexit preparations, hampering discussions of UK-wide cooperation, as well as of the specific needs of Northern Ireland. They are concerned pre-existing environmental governance issues in the region (such as the lack of an independent environmental agency or the prevalence of cross-border environmental crime) will remain unaddressed, and that current North/South cooperation on environmental issues will be negatively impacted by the Brexit deal. Crucially, the key planks of the UK government’s ‘Green Brexit’ strategy (such as the commitments laid out in the 25 Year Environment Plan and the Environmental Principles and Governance consultation) do not cover...
Legislative codecision and its impact on the political system of the European Union
Journal of European Public Policy, Aug 1, 2013
ABSTRACT The European Union (EU) has experienced a remarkable degree of change during its history... more ABSTRACT The European Union (EU) has experienced a remarkable degree of change during its history: it legislates in an ever wider range of policy areas, and its institutions and decision-making processes have been reformed repeatedly. One of the most important institutional changes was the introduction of the codecision procedure in 1993, which empowered the European Parliament (EP) and transformed the EU system of governance. Following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon the majority of legislation is now subject to codecision under the ordinary legislative procedure. Consequently, the operation of codecision has major implications for our understanding and analysis of the EU's legislative outputs and for studies of supranational policy-making and systemic evolution more generally. This collection takes stock of 20 years of practising and studying codecision and examines the procedure's long-term implications for the EU's institutions, politics and policies.
Political ecologies of green-collar crime: understanding illegal trades in European wildlife
Environmental Politics, Dec 12, 2022
Revue française de civilisation britannique, Nov 19, 2018
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Papers by Charlotte J Burns