Local states, policy capacity and the sustainability transition: a study of policies for wind energydevelopment in Xinjiang, Shanghai and Guangdong

Abstract

As China has moved towards sustainable development, policies for wind energy have undergone

rapid changes over the past two decades in this country. However, although wind energy is

capable of making a significant contribution to more sustainable energy systems, it has yet to

reach its full potential. There remain significant gaps in knowledge about how and why public

policies may effectively facilitate the achievement of sustainability in general and with regard to

specific sector-based initiatives.

The objective of this study is to bridge this knowledge gap by studying governance for

sustainable development with particular reference to wind energy policies in China. This study

focuses on the role of Chinese provinces in facilitating the sustainability transition. It proposes a

conceptual framework that adopts a policy capacity approach to understanding the sustainability

transition process. Policy capacity is defined in this study as the ability to identify, assimilate and

utilize resources both inside and outside the formal state apparatus to facilitate the policy-making

process. The conceptual framework, which comprises three building blocks – context, process

and outcomes – suggests that the interactions between provinces and other stakeholders are the

factors that facilitate or constrain policy capacity.

A comparative study of the evolution of wind energy policies in three provinces, Xinjiang,

Shanghai and Guangdong is presented. The aim of the analysis is to provide a better

understanding of the mechanisms that explain whether – and how – provinces represent a key

actor in the policy capacity building process.

The key findings are first, that while the Chinese provinces may differ in their governing modes,

a common feature was that they were in a unique position to strengthen policy capacity through

their interactions with the wider society both within and outside the state. Second, the

conceptualization of the conducive and inhibitive mechanisms of policy capacity building

suggests that there were important conducive conditions for policy capacity building found in the

provinces in the form of resources (such as local leadership and trust), structures (such as social

ties and bridging structures) and dynamics (such as market dynamics and double-loop learning).

However, the provinces’ potential to enhance policy capacity was not fully utilized because of the

presence of a set of inhibitive conditions that constrained the efforts. Third, through the

conceptualization of the embeddedness of the policy capacity building process, this study reveals

that contextual factors, at both the local and national levels, were the key to explaining why

provinces differed in their response to the sustainability transition.

This study concludes by suggesting that the sustainability transition needs to envision a new

governance approach that places more attention on the role of Chinese provinces, to release and

activate the enormous capacity in provinces that could in turn strengthen the central government’s

own policy capacity for the sustainability transition.