TY - JOUR
T1 - Co-benefits, contradictions, and multi-level governance of low-carbon experimentation
T2 - Leveraging solar energy for sustainable development in China
AU - Lo, Kelvin
AU - Castán Broto, Vanesa
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Early Career Scheme (22604217) and the General Research Fund ( 12600718 ) of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong. Vanesa Castán Broto would like to thank the Leverhulme Trust for their support via the Philip Leverhulme Prize. We would like to thank Genia Kostka, Sarah Rogers, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2019/11
Y1 - 2019/11
N2 - Experimentation has emerged as an important strategy of climate governance, and China, with a distinctive experiment-based policy process, is a leading example of a state-led and coordinated approach to low-carbon experimentation. Through a case study of the photovoltaics poverty alleviation (PVPA) initiative—an ambitious and experimental programme that explores the synergy between renewable energy and sustainable development by using photovoltaics to generate income for impoverished households and communities—this paper critically examines this top-down mode of experimentation from a multi-level perspective based on Heilmann's experimentation under hierarchy framework. Drawing from empirical evidence collected over two years from a PVPA pilot, we show that China's multi-level approach to experimentation requires dynamic mechanisms that enable not only the adaptation of national-level models to specific locations but also the incorporation of local implementation lessons in national policymaking. The resulting experimental governance thus extends from a combination of top-down mechanisms of control, local responses, and the broader contradictions that emerge from their interactions.
AB - Experimentation has emerged as an important strategy of climate governance, and China, with a distinctive experiment-based policy process, is a leading example of a state-led and coordinated approach to low-carbon experimentation. Through a case study of the photovoltaics poverty alleviation (PVPA) initiative—an ambitious and experimental programme that explores the synergy between renewable energy and sustainable development by using photovoltaics to generate income for impoverished households and communities—this paper critically examines this top-down mode of experimentation from a multi-level perspective based on Heilmann's experimentation under hierarchy framework. Drawing from empirical evidence collected over two years from a PVPA pilot, we show that China's multi-level approach to experimentation requires dynamic mechanisms that enable not only the adaptation of national-level models to specific locations but also the incorporation of local implementation lessons in national policymaking. The resulting experimental governance thus extends from a combination of top-down mechanisms of control, local responses, and the broader contradictions that emerge from their interactions.
KW - China
KW - Co-benefits
KW - Low-carbon experimentation
KW - Multi-level governance
KW - Renewable energy
KW - Sustainable development
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074164384&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.101993
DO - 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.101993
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85074164384
SN - 0959-3780
VL - 59
JO - Global Environmental Change
JF - Global Environmental Change
M1 - 101993
ER -