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 behavioral analysis. 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 primarily developed in laboratories focused onScience and Technology Studies(LISIS), environmental sciences, or in geography laboratories importing 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 (AgroparisTech) when they are faculty members—and scattered across various 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., and top engineering schools in this field (SupAgro Montpellier, AgroParisTech, etc.), as well as France’s largest ecology research laboratory—the internationally renowned CEFE—which enabled the University of Montpellier to rank first in ecology in the Shanghai Ranking in 2019. This vast research ecosystem is grouped within the Agropolis Cluster, benefits from the support of the Agropolis International Foundation, and also hosts the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Initially focused on engineering sciences (agronomy, hydrology, ecology, etc.) or economics, the public research institutions (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 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 to bring together a community of researchers through collaborative research and outreach programs and to attract new social science researchers specializing in the environmental field (CNRS applications, PhDs, or postdocs). This project aligns with the policy of the I-Site MUSE – Montpellier University of Excellence by contributing to two of its three pillars— Feed (agriculture and food) and “Protect” (Environment)—as well as their intersection. This research area develops a political sociology perspective on subjects typically viewed as 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 question 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

A first 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 participatory mechanisms are exploited; the growing influence of economic actors in environmental negotiations who present themselves—and are recognized—as representatives of civil society; finally, security-based discourses 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] observer participation 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 households 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, hydro). The data will be used to analyze behaviors regarding green electricity consumption and their link 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) the perception 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 (consumption and “sustainable” behaviors). This data, cross-referenced with electoral behavior (voter turnout, political orientations), will also allow 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 impact 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 our work on the rise of local agricultural and food policies that are part of agroecological transition initiatives. 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 to alternative models, but not exclusively so. Their partial appropriation of the critique is also a means of strengthening agriculture’s place on the urban agenda in the face of the dominant urban planning/residential framework in cities (agricultural lands as reserves for urbanization). 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 work 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 Gulf of Lion coastline (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, allowing us to examine an example of how the market has incorporated environmental and climate-related concerns. We draw on the survey mentioned above, which will be supplemented by semi-structured interviews with sector stakeholders, including both industry representatives and public actors (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 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 policies on water, coastal risks, and agroecology. The ongoing research should enable us to shed light on the realignments taking place in the relationships among all actors in the territory—including government agencies—around the ecological issues 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 state 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, pushing local actors to take on new responsibilities while seeking to govern from a distance through risk regulation or doctrines of adaptation to coastal erosion. Amid conflicting directives and a shortage of resources, we will examine the ongoing restructuring around metropolitan areas—now in charge of GEMAPI—and regions. This sub-theme will draw on the partnerships and research contracts mentioned above.Furthermore, the issue of coastal risk governance and water stress under 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 regarding 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 (3 research stays: October 2018, May 2019, and fall 2019), which will enable 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 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 (Climate Change Expertise Network in Occitanie, member of the steering committee)
  • KIM (Key Initiative MUSE) Sea and Coastline
  • Stakeholders in the consultation process (CNDP, National Commission for Public Debate)
  • ICPC (Institute for Public Consultation and Citizen Participation)
  • Coastal Ambition
  • Climate Change Policy/2CP International Network

It is clear that this research area requires an expansion 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 crossroads 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 placement will help kickstart this initiative.