LIST OF PANELS

The call encourages theoretical and empirical papers that contribute to the debate about actual and prospective linkages and conflicts between climate change and associated policy responses (mitigation or adaptation) on the one hand and the welfare state on the other. The main motivation for examining in tandem the two policy fields is that “[i]ssues are becoming increasingly ‘cross-cutting’, and do not fit the ministerial boxes into which governments, and policy analysts, tend to place policies” (Peters, 1998: 296). Climate change is a prominent example of a modern policy dilemma that should not be dealt with as part of environmental policy only. The IPCC’s messages have become increasingly alarming and unequivocal about the effects climate change will have not only for the natural environment but also on society   (www.ipcc.ch). By contrast to the impacts of globalisation and population ageing, the implications of climate change have been largely ignored by scholarship on the welfare state. Though there is much evidence that climate change will qualitatively alter the social policy agenda (Gough et al, 2008), more research is needed on the climate-social policy nexus in the context of different economic growth models. We invite papers going in several directions including: Conceptual/theoretical discussions of the linkages between climate change and associated policies on the one hand and the welfare state and social policies on the other. We particularly welcome papers that deal with these linkages in the context of different economic growth models and notions of justice (social, environmental, intergenerational). Comparative assessments of policy output and outcomes relating to the two policy fields. Papers that seek to identify the determinants of environmental and social policies as substitutes (trade-off hypothesis) or complements (synergy hypothesis) Papers addressing the likely public acceptability and political implications of different policy solutions (based on e.g. social survey data).

The panel addresses the debate about actual and prospective linkages and conflicts between climate change and associated policy responses (mitigation or adaptation) on the one hand and the welfare state on the other. The motivation for examining in tandem two policy fields, which until recently have operated as distinct areas analytically as well as in practical policymaking, is well summarised by B. Guy Peters: “Issues are becoming increasingly ‘cross-cutting’, and do not fit the ministerial boxes into which governments, and policy analysts, tend to place policies” (Peters, 1998: 296). Climate change is a prominent example of a modern policy dilemma that should not be dealt with only as part of environmental policy. The IPCC’s messages have become increasingly alarming and unequivocal about the effects climate change will have not only the natural environment but also on society (see www.ipcc.ch). If the essence of the welfare state is helping people tackle social risks, climate change represents a new major risk whose consequences interact with social policy in ways that are not fully mapped and understood. Climate change brings more uncertainty into traditional social policy domains like care services and social protection (e.g., against illness and disability, unemployment, and old age), all of which are under strain already. Thinking, for instance, about concrete social protection programmes, there are many open questions. Will social security systems have to be redesigned as extreme weather events increase in frequency and intensity? How can social security administrations prepare to meet natural disasters? Such events demand rapid reactions to support people in extremely vulnerable situations. We might see climate related business interruptions and redundancies, which in turn require unemployment support while employer contributions are negatively affected. Climate related health problems might increase which in turn create pressures on health care and disability pensions. While the impacts of globalisation and population ageing have received much well-deserved attention in modern welfare research, the implications of climate change have until recently been largely ignored by scholarship on the welfare state. In short, climate change will qualitatively alter the social policy agenda but we need more research on the climate-social policy nexus (Gough et al, 2008). Governments need to adapt social policy to the pressures created by climate change. One may even think of ‘climate adjusted’ social policy as part of climate adaptation more broadly. However, the climate policy agenda also promotes mitigation to minimise the magnitude of climate change. Climate change mitigation requires changes in human behaviour, i.e., in the way we live our lives. At the national and international level a central question is who does what, when and how. The question has profound social and moral consequences. If not carefully designed, mitigation policies such as green taxes risk having perverse distributive effects (Büchs et al 2011). They might lead to a ‘double injustice’, i.e., a situation in which those least responsible for harmful emissions pay a relatively higher cost (Koch and Fritz 2014). Redistributive social policies should complement and compensate climate mitigation measures to achieve socially acceptable outcomes.