ANNUAL CONGRESS 2025

The Rise of the Climate State: The Contrasting Cases of Climate Strategies in Japan and the EU

Not scheduled

20m

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul

Oral Track 05 | ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE

Speaker

Dr Everardus Wilhelmus (Michiel) Stapper (University of Amsterdam)

Description

Wildfires, snowstorms, and rising temperatures are intensifying in tandem with growing inequalities and political dissatisfaction, signaling the profound socio-economic challenges posed by climate change. As the world has collectively pledged to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 under the Paris Climate Accord, this commitment necessitates extensive economic restructuring and significant shifts in the role of the state within society. These developments invite a critical question: Are we witnessing the transformation of the traditional welfare state into a "climate state," one fundamentally reshaped by the imperatives of ecological sustainability?

This paper explores this question by contrasting two distinct approaches to achieving carbon neutrality in high-income regions with well-established welfare states: Japan and the European Union (EU). Japan has introduced its Green Growth Strategy (GGS), which prioritizes the decarbonization of industries and investments in climate adaptation to meet its 2050 neutrality target. In contrast, the EU’s strategy, articulated through the European Green Deal, adopts a broader perspective. Alongside its ambitious decarbonization goals, it seeks to address social inequalities and foster political buy-in through mechanisms such as the "Just Transition Mechanism," which supports regions and workers most affected by the transition to a low-carbon economy. By examining these two cases, this paper sheds light on the evolving role of the state in managing the interplay between economic transformation and ecological imperatives, as well as the competing logics underlying these transitions.

To analyze these approaches, the study employs a critical sociological pragmatism framework and draws insights from socio-legal studies (Boltanski & Chiapello, 2005; Macaulay, 1979). The analysis is based on three complementary methodologies. First, a comprehensive desk analysis examines key laws, regulations, and policy frameworks underpinning the 2050 climate neutrality goals in both Japan and the EU. Second, a discourse analysis investigates the narratives and debates surrounding these strategies as reflected in newspaper editorials, revealing the sociopolitical dynamics shaping public discourse. Third, the study maps the policy networks in the respective capital cities, Tokyo and Brussels, to uncover the institutional and stakeholder interactions driving these climate agendas. This mapping draws on both desk research and over 20 in-depth interviews with key actors involved in the formulation and implementation of these policies. Together, these methodologies provide a rich comparative perspective on the transformation of state roles in response to the twin crises of climate change and social inequality.