Klimapolitik zwischen Markt, Deliberation und Hegemonie – Der Emissionshandel und das Politische

Originating in neoclassical economic theory, emission trading figures prominently in the increasingly pressing debate on how to resolve the ecological crisis. This paper elaborates three normative premises inherent in the instrument of emission trading which are contestable yet rarely made transparent. At the instrument level, an emission trading system (ETS) takes a normative stance with respect to the meta-theoretical questions on (i) how to deal with path dependencies, (ii) what constitutes the goal of climate policy as well as (iii) the ethical legitimacy of different emission sources. Broadly drawing on inter- an intradisciplinary research, we problematize the specific premises in view of the factual structure of the climate crisis and delineate possibilities for a more adequate reconceptualization. If the premises are chosen differently, the ETS will have to be integrated into a more comprehensive bundle of instruments, or given a differentiated design, or discarded altogether in favor of other measures. In a second step, we situate the direct political implementation of the ETS ontologically as aggregative-liberal, which is concomitant of the premise that all societal conflicts triggered or intensified by decarbonization can be conflicts can be adequately resolved through market mechanisms. In distinction, we discuss a deliberative and a radical democratic account of the political from the realm of political theory. These paradigms adopt alternative stances on the general possibility as well as the rational mechanisms of collective conflict resolution. For each paradigm, we trace how climate politics can be thought of, and specifically, what role an ETS can and should play in the political process. Viewed from a deliberative or radical democratic perspective, the de-politicization of climate policy in the ETS may erode social cohesion and stabilize a hegemonic fossil order, respectively. The paper demonstrates the inherent political nature of environmental economics and highlights the relevance of an informed scientific pluralism both in theory building and in policy advising.

Frick, Marc and Vera Huwe (2020), Klimapolitik zwischen Markt, Deliberation und Hegemonie – Der Emissionshandel und das Politische, ZEW Discussion Paper No. 20-060, Mannheim.