CEPEL

Thematic Area No. 2 – Environment

The Environment Cluster builds on the innovative “Sustainable Development” Cluster launched during the previous five-year term. It aims to continue the work on the topics addressed within that framework and draws on the various research grants secured in 2017 and 2018, while also developing new projects. Within the French scientific landscape, it stands out not only for its research topics and collaborative approach but also for its methodologies, which combine the analysis of public policy with that of social behavior. In France, the environment has long been a subject with limited legitimacy in political science, with the exception of a few notable works, particularly those of Pierre Lascoumes. Environmental analysis has developed primarily in laboratories focused onScience and Technology Studies(LISIS), environmental sciences, or in geography departments that have adopted critical American environmental approaches. While there has been a sharp increase in the number of dissertations defended in recent years—suggesting a shift in this field—political scientists specializing in the environment remain few in number—often affiliated with technical schools (such as AgroparisTech) when they are faculty members—and scattered across various research laboratories.The Montpellier campus has historically developed strong expertise in the fields of agriculture, food, and the environment, linked to the presence of public research institutions such as INRA, CIRAD, IRSTEA, IRD, IRC, etc., as well as prestigious French engineering schools in this field (SupAgro Montpellier, AgroParisTech, etc.) and France’s largest ecology research laboratory—the internationally renowned CEFE—which enabled the University of Montpellier to rank first in ecology in the 2019 Shanghai Ranking. This vast research ecosystem is grouped within the Agropolis Cluster, receives support from the Agropolis International Foundation, and is also home to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Initially focused on engineering sciences (agronomy, hydrology, ecology, etc.) or economics, the public scientific and technical establishments (EPSTs) within the Agropolis Cluster have gradually expanded their work into the social sciences and, in recent years, have recruited researchers in political science and political sociology (primarily at CIRAD and IRSTEA).CEPEL’s new environmental research focus will build on the various research partnerships developed with these researchers during the previous five-year period. These partnerships bring together political scientists and political sociologists from CIRAD (UMR Art-Dev and MOISA), IRSTEA (UMR G-eau), and researchers (geographers and economists) from INRA (UMR Innovation, where Laura Michel is an associate researcher). Many of them are already involved in scientific initiatives with CEPEL. The objective of the new environmental focus of the CEPEL project is to build on this momentum in order to bring together a community of researchers through collaborative research and outreach programs, and to attract new social scientists specializing in the environmental field (CNRS applications, doctoral candidates, or postdocs). This project aligns with the policy of I-Site MUSE – Montpellier University of Excellence by contributing to two of its three focus areas— Feed (agriculture and food) and “Protect” (Environment)—as well as their intersection. This research area develops a political sociology perspective on topics typically considered technical and therefore rarely addressed by political science: the environmental implications of agricultural, industrial, and water management policies, coastal risks, and more. It examines the governance of environmental criticism, which will also be the subject of an HDR dissertation to be defended during this five-year period (Laura Michel).A first sub-theme addresses this issue from a cross-cutting perspective (environmental democracy, behaviors, and opinions). A second sub-theme examines the potential for transformation of sectoral policies (agriculture, industry, etc.) under the influence of environmental criticism. A final sub-theme focuses on the territorialization of public policy responses to environmental issues.

Environmental Democracy, Behaviors, and Opinions

An initial set of studies takes a cross-cutting approach. One subset will focus on environmental democracy, building on previous work on the spread of participatory practices in the environmental field. We will examine the current limitations to its expansion, and even instances of regression, resulting from the combined effect of three independent dynamics: academic critiques that highlight its contradictions or the various ways in which participatory mechanisms are exploited; the growing influence of economic actors in environmental negotiations, who present themselves—and are recognized—as representatives of civil society; and finally, security-based arguments that can be used to justify a rollback of the new procedural rights—namely, access to information and public participation—enshrined in international law by the Aarhus Convention. This research will draw, on the one hand, on Laura Michel’s[1] role as an observer in the work of the Aarhus Convention and, on the other hand, on the observation of a participatory initiative—led by IRSTEA researchers—aimed at involving citizens in future coastal development projects, in which Laura Michel is collaborating (Cartodébat Project). A second sub-project will focus on opinions and behaviors regarding environmental issues. A questionnaire survey of electricity consumers (5,000 individuals and 500 small businesses) and four focus groups were conducted (Jean-Yves Dormagen, Laura Michel) in partnership with a producer of “green” electricity (wind, solar, and hydroelectric). The data will be used to analyze consumption patterns regarding green electricity and their connection to political stances. This work will also be informed by the BAROC project, led by Jean-Yves Dormagen (with Laura Michel and Emmanuelle Reungoat), in partnership with Sciences Po Toulouse (Occitanie Region call for proposals, 2018–2020). Two quantitative surveys (spring 2019 and 2020) will enable us to understand (among other things) residents’ perceptions of environmental risks and challenges—particularly in the context of climate change (energy, agriculture and food, coastal risks) by residents of the Occitanie region, their knowledge of related regional policies, and their practices (“sustainable” consumption and behaviors). This data, cross-referenced with electoral behavior (voter turnout, political orientations), will also enable us to develop a detailed sociological analysis of the “green” vote and, more generally, of voting patterns based on environmental awareness.

Environment and Sectoral Governance

This research track aims to examine the potential transformative effect of environmental criticism on sectoral policies, as well as the sectoral strategies for channeling such criticism, through three areas of study. We propose to continue research on the rise of local agricultural and food policies that are part of agroecological transition projects. We examine their potential to challenge the productivist model at the local level. Our hypothesis is that actors in the agricultural sector deploy strategies of resistance against alternative models, but not exclusively so. Their partial appropriation of this critique is also a means of reinforcing agriculture’s place on the urban agenda in the face of the dominant urban planning/residential framework in cities (agricultural lands as reserves for urban expansion). The rise of urban food and agricultural policies more oriented toward a multifunctional and agroecological framework also raises the question of their coexistence with liberal and productivist frameworks that persist at the national and, above all, European levels (CAP) and continue to guide the major instruments of agricultural policy: funding and regulation. This research will continue in partnership with the UNESCO Chair on World Food Systems (CIRAD). A project has been submitted and shortlisted, led by INRA (UMR Innovation in Montpellier and UMR AGIR in Toulouse): GATO (Territorialized Food Governance in Occitanie) The following two research areas are part of a new initiative launched in 2017 on climate change adaptation policies. The first focuses on framing climate change as a lever for addressing coastal risks withinthe port industry and the tourism sector(outdoor lodging, real estate development). We adopt a comparative perspective between these two sectors. Our work, in partnership with researchers from the Agropolis cluster, is based on four ongoing research contracts on climate change adaptation policies in coastal risk management (with S. Barone, IRSTEA): the first focuses on the coastline of the Gulf of Lion (Fondation de France), the second on “Metropolization and Coastal Risk Management” (POPSU). Two others, in partnership with political scientists and political sociologists from CIRAD (Gilles Massardier, Marie Hrabranski, Denis Pesche, Pierre-Louis Mayaux) (the Tackling CC 2017 and Typoclim 2018 projects), recipients of the MUSE (Montpellier University of Excellence) program, are developing a comparative perspective across sectors (agriculture/coastal) and countries (North/South).The second area of research, which addresses the issue of climate change as a driver of transformation, focuses on the green electricity sector, which will allow us to examine an example of how the market has incorporated environmental—and climate-related—criticism. We will draw on the survey mentioned above, which will be supplemented by semi-structured interviews with sector stakeholders, including both industry representatives and public officials (involved in the development of this new sector and its regulations).

Environment and Local Governance

The Anglo-Saxon literature on environmental policies—and climate policies in particular—emphasizes that their implementation at the national and local levels poses a real challenge. Implementation, in fact, requires an integrated approach that involves coordinating various instruments (financing, market-based, nature-based,planning, land-use planning, risk management, etc.), sectors (agriculture, urban planning/housing, environment, industry…), stakeholders (government agencies, elected officials, industry sectors, businesses, “civil society”…), and levels of action (international, national, local). Furthermore, national and international policies often espouse vague or even contradictory principles, which, at the local level, point to potential conflicts in their implementation. This issue raises the question of local governance of environmental policies. It will be addressed through the lens of water policies, coastal risk management, and agroecological policies. The research currently underway should enable us to shed light on the shifting dynamics at play in the relationships among all actors within the territory—including government agencies—as they address the ecological challenges specific to these policies. In the field of agricultural and food policies, we will test the hypothesis that the challenges of agroecology and multifunctionality are being shifted to the local level. In the field of water, Claire Dedieu’s dissertation will analyze the impact of territorial government reform on the quality of water resource protection. A comparative dissertation on water stress management (Ophélie Traché) has also just begun under the supervision of Emmanuel Négrier (co-supervised by Sylvain Barone, IRSTEA). In the field of coastal risks, the territorial state is also less directly involved, prompting local actors to assume new responsibilities while the state seeks to govern from a distance through risk regulations or policies for adapting to coastal erosion. Amid conflicting directives and a shortage of resources, we will examine the ongoing restructuring centered on metropolitan areas—now responsible for GEMAPI—and the regions. This sub-theme will draw on the partnerships and research contracts mentioned above.Furthermore, the issue of coastal risk governance and water stress in the context of climate change will be the focus of an international comparison with the United States, which we will develop throughout the five-year period. To this end, we have established collaborations with the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). A comparative study is currently underway on coastal risks in the Gulf of Lion and San Francisco Bay in California. Laura Michel was also awarded a mobility grant for the University of California, Davis (three research stays: October 2018, May 2019, and fall 2019), enabling her to conduct field research in California and develop a comparative analysis framework with our partner’s team (Mark Lubell, Director of the Center for Environmental Policy and Behavior, UC Davis).All of the work in this research area, as well as the partnerships established with researchers from the Agropolis cluster, will contribute to the “Environment and Politics” seminar in the bilingual Master’s 2 program in Comparative Politics and Public Policy.

We will also continue our involvement in various local, national, and international networks:

  • RECO (Occitanie Climate Change Expertise Network, member of the steering committee)
  • KIM (Key Initiative MUSE) Sea and Coastline
  • Bodies responsible for facilitating public consultation (CNDP, National Commission for Public Debate)
  • ICPC (Institute for Consultation and Citizen Participation)
  • Coastal Ambition
  • Climate Change Policy/2CP International Network

It is clear that this research area requires further development of human resources. It will involve one full-time faculty member (Laura Michel) and two doctoral students (Claire Dedieu and Ophélie Traché); as well as one part-time CNRS researcher (Emmanuel Négrier) and one part-time faculty member (Jean-Yves Dormagen). The goal is to develop partnerships with the public scientific and technical establishments (EPSTs) in Montpellier to position CEPEL at the center of multiple collaborations within the framework of MUSE’s campus policy. Welcoming new CNRS researchers would provide valuable support. For now, securing a CNRS delegation assignment will help kickstart this initiative.