Science-Policy Interaction in International Environmental Politics: An Analysis of the Ozone Regime and the Climate Regime

The relationship between science and policy in international environmental regimes has attracted much scholarly attention in the past decades. One of the most recognized approaches to the science–policy interaction in international environmental politics is the ‘knowledge-based’ epistemic communities approach. This approach contends that knowledge generated by scientists or other ‘knowledge-based’ experts, under certain circumstances, influences governments attempting to negotiate international agreements. However, the question how governments exert influence on scientific knowledge has not been analyzed in much detail. Therefore, this article explores the impact of national interests on scientific knowledge. Building upon an ‘interest-based’ approach to the science–policy interaction, the article demonstrates that national interests considerably influence the production and interpretation of key scientific findings in the ozone regime and the climate regime. This finding challenges the epistemic communities approach and underlines the urgent need to systematically analyze how governments exert influence on scientific knowledge to enforce and protect national interests.