Who Leads, Who Follows? A Multi-level Perspective of Energy Transitions in the Transport Sector

The electrification of the vehicle fleet involves a mass of actions to be taken by European, national and local government, a range of industries and consumers. It involves coordination between transport and energy policy if the benefits of decarbonisation are to be realised. The changes must also fit (and compete for resources) with broader policy imperatives such as the economy and health. This talk draws on results from a study of climate change governance which explored the roles and expectations of decision-makers in different organisations at different governance levels working upwards and outwards from four city regions in England and Scotland. It examines the balance between bottom up innovation and top-down steering and makes recommendations about the sorts of policy tools that may facilitate or accelerate uptake and the policy pre-conditions that must support these.