TY - JOUR
T1 - The politics of evidence-based policy: A comparative analysis of climate adaptation in Australia and the UK
AU - Tangney, Peter
AU - Howes, Michael
PY - 2016/9/1
Y1 - 2016/9/1
N2 - This paper presents a comparative analysis of the use of climate science for adaptation policy in Queensland, Australia and the UK. We examine policy players’ perceptions of climate science alongside prevailing political influences on evidence-based policy making. In Queensland, the evidence-based mandate has been weakened by partisan politics so that the political acceptability of evidence is a foremost concern for policy makers. In the UK, the evidence-based mandate is enshrined in the Climate Change Act (2008), yet here too political forces have sought to limit the acceptable use of climate science for policy making. Both cases reveal normative and political tensions in the interpretation and use of climate science, suggesting that important political challenges must be overcome by the scientific community to ensure the ongoing utility of climate science for policy making.
AB - This paper presents a comparative analysis of the use of climate science for adaptation policy in Queensland, Australia and the UK. We examine policy players’ perceptions of climate science alongside prevailing political influences on evidence-based policy making. In Queensland, the evidence-based mandate has been weakened by partisan politics so that the political acceptability of evidence is a foremost concern for policy makers. In the UK, the evidence-based mandate is enshrined in the Climate Change Act (2008), yet here too political forces have sought to limit the acceptable use of climate science for policy making. Both cases reveal normative and political tensions in the interpretation and use of climate science, suggesting that important political challenges must be overcome by the scientific community to ensure the ongoing utility of climate science for policy making.
KW - adaptation
KW - climate
KW - Evidence-based policy
KW - politics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84987806945&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0263774X15602023
DO - 10.1177/0263774X15602023
M3 - Article
VL - 34
SP - 1115
EP - 1134
JO - Environment and Planning C-Government and Policy
JF - Environment and Planning C-Government and Policy
SN - 0263-774X
IS - 6
ER -