Browsing by Subject "Descriptive network analysis"

Finland’s climate policy has become more ambitious. Since 2014, the first climate policy was adopted in 2015, climate funding has significantly increased and the goal in 2022 is to become a carbon neutral welfare state by 2035. All at once, a new wave of environmental actors, such as Extinction Rebellion and Fridays for Future have entered the policy scene. This Master’s Thesis investigates two possible mechanisms behind the policy change: the increase in the influence of environmental organizations and the changes in the beliefs of policy elites. Previous literature has pointed out that the Finnish ENGOs are relatively weaker than their counterparts in other policy sectors, weaker than other competing coalitions and weaker than in other comparable countries, while still being extremely radical in their views on climate change, indicating no co-optation to institutional logic. The ENGO coalition was found to be structurally included in the policymaking but was assessed the least influential of all coalitions. Thus, in the changed policy context, the following hypothesis is examined: ENGOs occupy more power in the climate policy network in 2020 than in 2014. The Finnish policy network has been found to be conflictual due to discrepancy in policy core beliefs among the policy actors, as well as historical emphasis on industry interest. The Finnish climate policy has been hindered by Tripartite coalition that prioritises economic values. Research has pointed out that influence attribution is a prompt proxy for policy influence. Thus, the second hypothesis states: The most powerful actors in the network have shifted in their views towards pro-mitigation over time. The research is carried out through utilizing data collected by COMPON- research group, analysing ENGO centralities, influence attribution and a composite measure for policy core beliefs. The results support the first hypothesis only partially. The ENGOs affiliations remain somewhat similar over time. Conventional ENGOs remained at the centre of the network, whereas the contentious ENGOs occupy outskirts of the network. However, more ENGOs report being included in the policy process in 2020 than 2014. Aligned with previous knowledge about ENGO influence, inclusion in the policy process is the most important factor behind successful influencing. The second hypothesis is supported by the results: a shift in policy core beliefs towards pro-mitigation has occurred among the policy elite, i.e., the central policy actors. Regardless of the corporate actors’ increased emphasis on economic values, there is an increased consensus about the importance of climate change. The two mechanisms examined in this research do not constitute a comprehensive explanation of the change in Finnish climate policy, as other factors such as changes of governments evidently play a role. They are, however, an important part of the explanation: mainstreaming of climate values has occurred in the Finnish climate network, which undermines previously strong coalition structures that would hinder progress.