Toward a carbon-free industrial port area? Political legitimacy,technological promises,and the contingency of the low-carbon transition in Dunkirk,France

Abstract

This article analyses the institutionalisation of a territorial transition policy within an industrial basin. Focusing on the largest industrial port in northern France, it examines the conditions under which a local low-carbon policy aimed at job creation and regional reindustrialisation is developed and implemented. The implementation of this policy is facilitated by the availability of land in port areas and by political leadership shaped by networks of public and private actors forming a coalition of interests. However, these local initiatives are constrained by persistent uncertainties on the part of the central government and major industrial emitters regarding their willingness to provide long-term financial support for the proposed technological promises.