Climate policy as common ground for cooperation: Sino-Danish cooperation in the Danish Energy Partnership Programme A case study of possibilities and limitations for policy-transfer and policy-learning
Author
Johansen, Ditte Savannah Tjell
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2023
Submitted on
2023-05-12
Pages
82
Abstract
The IPCC’s 2023 Sixth Assessment Report emphasizes the need for international cooperation on climate change. At the same time, geopolitics, economic slowdown, and security concerns complicate international relations. This thesis asks whether climate policy can provide common ground for cooperation between China and the European Union despite these challenges. It uses a case study of Denmark’s bilateral energy cooperation with China through the Danish Energy Partnership Programme (DEPP). The focus is on how goals and practices move between policy actors via policy transfer (sharing and adapting policies) and policy learning (drawing lessons from each other). Methodologically, the study uses a qualitative dataset consisting of an expert interview and the Academy of Macroeconomic Research’s China Energy Transformation Outlook 2021. The analysis traces the mechanisms of policy learning and transfer and then discusses how external factors—including the role of the EU—shape cooperation. Findings show that Denmark’s partnership with China illustrates the benefits of learning and transferring policy design for global climate cooperation. Joint development of policy through policy learning can help avoid undesirable impacts from external political or economic pressures. Because climate change has global effects, policy actors tend to depoliticize climate policy as much as possible to keep cooperation on track. The thesis contributes to a relatively underdeveloped field by analyzing how external factors affect bilateral collaboration.
IPCC’s sjette vurderingsrapport (2023) understreger behovet for internationalt samarbejde om klimaet. Samtidig gør geopolitiske spændinger, økonomisk afmatning og sikkerhedshensyn internationale relationer mere komplekse. Denne afhandling undersøger, om klimapolitik kan fungere som fælles grundlag for samarbejde mellem Kina og EU på trods af sådanne udfordringer. Undersøgelsen tager udgangspunkt i en case: Danmarks bilaterale energisamarbejde med Kina i Danish Energy Partnership Programme (DEPP). Vi ser på, hvordan mål og løsninger bevæger sig mellem aktører gennem policy-overførsel (deling og tilpasning af politikker) og policy-læring (at lære af hinandens erfaringer). Metodisk bygger afhandlingen på et kvalitativt datagrundlag bestående af et ekspertinterview og Academy of Macroeconomic Research’s rapport China Energy Transformation Outlook 2021. Analysen kortlægger mekanismerne i policy-læring og -overførsel og drøfter dernæst, hvordan eksterne faktorer – herunder EU’s rolle – påvirker samarbejdet. Resultaterne viser, at Danmarks partnerskab med Kina illustrerer fordelene ved at lære af og overføre politikudformning til gavn for globalt klimasamarbejde. Bilateral fælles udvikling af politikker gennem policy-læring kan hjælpe med at omgå uønskede effekter fra eksternt pres. Fordi klimaforandringer har globale konsekvenser, er policy-aktører enige om at afpolitisere klimapolitik mest muligt for at fastholde samarbejdet. Afhandlingen bidrager til et relativt underudviklet felt ved at analysere, hvordan eksterne faktorer påvirker bilateralt samarbejde.
[This apstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]
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