Bringing Aviation into the EU Emissions Trading Scheme : Institutional Entrepreneurship at Windows of Opportunity

Abstract: The present decade has experienced a boom in public and private interest in climate change. A frequently exposed industry in this debate has been aviation, not least international air transport, the greenhouse gas emissions of which have long remained unregulated. This exemption stemmed from several challenges in the search for a regulatory response to target this rapidly growing source of emissions, challenges that involve scientific, political, technological, and economic factors. Following the European Commission’s 2005 announcement of their intention to bring aviation into the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, this particular policy instrument was placed at the centre of the debate. This thesis presents an historical account, to help us understand the emphasis on emissions trading in this first non-domestic regulation to target international aviation’s climate change impact.This thesis offers explanations of the emissions trading proposal by examining the institutional process through which a climate policy for aviation was developed. It guides us through the transnational debate that unfolded across local and global arenas involving a wide range of organisations, not least with reference to the escalating climate change debate after 1997. Particular attention is paid to disputed developments at the EU arena but the study also reveals how significant driving forces to bring aviation into the EU Emissions Trading Scheme intensified in the national context of the United Kingdom. Building on qualitative data including a range of documents and interviews with key players in the field, this study highlights the complexity of the many organising activities involved in policy development. The analysis is largely based on integrating recent developments in organisational institutionalism into the major contours of the multiple streams approach of political scientist John W. Kingdon.The conclusions concern four important themes against which the proposal to include aviation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme should be understood: the institutional context in which it was shaped; the organised collective that promoted emissions trading; the timing dimension of both agency and the process itself; and the significant transnational influences on EU policy. The theoretical contribution is primarily directed towards organisational institutionalism in demonstrating how regulatory processes are situated, not only in an institutional context but also in a powerful temporal context significantly dependent on a window of opportunity.