Publications (FIS)

Lost in action

Climate friendly use of European peatlands needs coherence and incentive-based policies

authored by: Cheng Chen, Lasse Loft, Bettina Matzdorf
Abstract: Peatlands are significant to global efforts to combat climate change. However, to date, they have been a missing piece in the climate change mitigation policy puzzle in the European Union (EU). Taking a policy coherence perspective, we investigate how policies from different governance levels—that is, EU, member state, and regional levels—support and impede existing and new policies for climate-friendly peatland usage. We put a particular focus on incentive-based policy instruments, because such incentives are often advocated as promising policy instruments for supporting the transition to the sustainable management of peatlands. We selected the three peatland-rich EU countries Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands. Based on semi-structured interviews with 35 experts, we indicate a lack of horizontal policy coherence between agriculture, nature conservation, water management, forestry, energy, and climate policies in terms of climate change mitigation measures on peatlands. At the EU level, most prominently, the Common Agricultural Policy counteracts climate targets because direct payments currently encourage the unsustainable management of peatlands. At the national and subnational levels, water quality in Finland, nature conservation in Germany, and subsidence in the Netherlands were primary objectives of peatland relevant policies. Due to a lack of clear guidance on raising the groundwater table, the current incentive-based policy instruments are ineffective for reducing emissions. Despite its higher mitigation potential, potential incentive-based policies for rewetting encounter various regulatory barriers caused by the policy incoherence. We conclude that the transition to climate-friendly peatland usage requires coherent regulatory frameworks and incentive-based policies supporting rewetting.
Organisation(s): Institute of Environmental Planning
External Organisation(s): Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)
Type: Article
Journal: Environmental Science and Policy
Volume: 145
Pages: 104-115
No. of pages: 12
ISSN: 1462-9011
Publication date: 07.2023
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Geography, Planning and Development, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 13 - Climate Action
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2023.04.010 (Access: Closed)

BibTeX

@article{66ee850f06d642bebd882303f209f956,
title = "Lost in action: Climate friendly use of European peatlands needs coherence and incentive-based policies",
abstract = "Peatlands are significant to global efforts to combat climate change. However, to date, they have been a missing piece in the climate change mitigation policy puzzle in the European Union (EU). Taking a policy coherence perspective, we investigate how policies from different governance levels—that is, EU, member state, and regional levels—support and impede existing and new policies for climate-friendly peatland usage. We put a particular focus on incentive-based policy instruments, because such incentives are often advocated as promising policy instruments for supporting the transition to the sustainable management of peatlands. We selected the three peatland-rich EU countries Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands. Based on semi-structured interviews with 35 experts, we indicate a lack of horizontal policy coherence between agriculture, nature conservation, water management, forestry, energy, and climate policies in terms of climate change mitigation measures on peatlands. At the EU level, most prominently, the Common Agricultural Policy counteracts climate targets because direct payments currently encourage the unsustainable management of peatlands. At the national and subnational levels, water quality in Finland, nature conservation in Germany, and subsidence in the Netherlands were primary objectives of peatland relevant policies. Due to a lack of clear guidance on raising the groundwater table, the current incentive-based policy instruments are ineffective for reducing emissions. Despite its higher mitigation potential, potential incentive-based policies for rewetting encounter various regulatory barriers caused by the policy incoherence. We conclude that the transition to climate-friendly peatland usage requires coherent regulatory frameworks and incentive-based policies supporting rewetting.",
keywords = "Carbon-rich soil, Climate change mitigation, Multi-level governance, Peat, Policy analysis, Policy coherence",
author = "Cheng Chen and Lasse Loft and Bettina Matzdorf",
note = "Funding Information: Additionally, the EU and member states co-fund the financial support for implementing existing incentive-based policies. Only Germany uses such co-funding to provide advisory services, buying facilities, adapting machinery, and promoting cooperation (see Table 3 ). Paludiculture, submerged drains, and high water table grassland potential have been supported as potential incentive-based policies via pilot projects (see Table 4 ). Funding Information: Many provinces have already implemented initiatives to tackle the subsidence problem. Farmers can receive up to 2000€ of subsidies per ha for constructing pipes for submerged drains and pressurized drainage. For example, the peat innovation program (Innovatieprogramma Veen), which was implemented by the agricultural collective Water, Land & Dijken, has been supported by the Province of Noord-Holland. It tests different water-raising measures with farmers, including paludiculture and pressurized drainage. ",
year = "2023",
month = jul,
doi = "10.1016/j.envsci.2023.04.010",
language = "English",
volume = "145",
pages = "104--115",
journal = "Environmental Science and Policy",
issn = "1462-9011",
publisher = "Elsevier BV",
}