The politics of just transition: Authoritarian environmentalism and implementation flexibility in forest conservation

This paper develops a political perspective of just transition by linking the just transition concept with the concept of policy implementation, thereby drawing attention to the role of local policy implementers in the process and outcome of just transition. Focusing on the Chinese political context, it examines the degree of implementation flexibility in a broader context of authoritarian environmentalism. Implementation flexibility at the local level has been an enduring feature of Chinese environmental governance and can be considered as a key political process through which just transition can be achieved. However, recent studies suggest that the strengthening of top-down control over the environment means that the implementation process has become less flexible. Drawing on a case study of a logging town in the Greater Khingan Range transitioning under the National Forest Conservation Program, we found that while the strengthening of top-down control has resulted in an elevated level of compliance, flexibility remains an important dynamic in policy implementation. As such, local policy implementers still play an important role in just transition. This persistence of implementation flexibility is driven by a combination of local priorities, implementation difficulties, and top-down control.