Combating new challenges with old political solutions? Policy responses to climate change and climate- induced disturbances in European forests

This study focuses on the role of external events – in the form of climate change and climate-induced disturbance – for policy forest development. The aim is to explore the evolution of European forest policy through a longitudinal analysis of Germany, Poland, Slovenia, and Sweden, assessing how climate change and climate-induced disturbances are considered in policy goals, problem perceptions, governance approaches, and preferred management solutions. First, we map and analyze policy development within each country over a period of two decades. Second, we discuss how these findings relate to climate change and climate-induced disturbances. Third, and finally, we reflect on the similarities and differences of the four countries. The empirical results provide an overview of forest policy development and show how responsive the governance systems have been to the new challenges posed by a rapidly changing climate. While much stability has characterized European forest policy, revisions and substantial changes, partly motivated by increasing climate change and climate-induced disturbances, are evident in different ways and to varying degrees in the countries studied. The magnitude and consequences of these disruptive events, existing institutional structures, and present advocacy coalitions are suggested as explanations for variations among countries. The lessons about past responsiveness may predict the pace of implementation of new forest policies and adaptation to disturbances in the future.