Understanding eco-social policies: a proposed definition and typology

Abstract

As complex challenges like climate change and inequality become increasingly salient, eco-social policies are emerging as suitable public policy instruments to pursue integrated environmental and social objectives. However, despite their rising relevance, a descriptive – and hence empirically applicable – definition is still lacking in the reference literature, currently dominated by normative studies. Therefore, building on a critical assessment of the state of the art, this article proposes a framework for conceptualising eco-social policies, calling for an output-based definition with policy integration as its core element. The article also proposes a typology to differentiate various eco-social policies along two dimensions: the direction of policy integration and the link to economic growth. This typology allows us to elaborate on the possible roles that the welfare state can play vis-à-vis environmental challenges and policies, for instance in the context of decarbonisation: reactive or preventive; protection- or investment-oriented.