Designing Integrated Policies for the Twin Transition: Challenges and Tradeoffs

Original

Designing Integrated Policies for the Twin Transition: Challenges and Tradeoffs

Martino Maggetti

Abstract

ABSTRACT Democratic governance faces the intertwined imperatives of managing the transformative risks and opportunities of digitalization, particularly stemming from artificial intelligence (AI), while achieving environmental sustainability within planetary boundaries. Policymakers worldwide, particularly those involved in the European Union's “twin transition” agenda, often depict these transformations as mutually reinforcing; nonetheless, complementarity cannot be assumed: for instance, digitalization's energy demands threaten climate targets, and, respectively, sustainability goals constrain the scope and direction of technological innovation. To contribute to this discussion, this article examines integrated policy approaches that address both transitions simultaneously. In addition to typical policy integration hurdles about coherence and consistency, three macrochallenges require consideration when designing integrated policies for the twin transition: (1) the misalignment of temporal dynamics between fast‐moving technological change and long‐term environmental crises; (2) the discrepancy in scientific knowledge, consisting of high uncertainty about AI regulation versus a strong consensus in climate science; and (3) the ambivalent nature of transitions, capable of strengthening or undermining democracy in opposite directions. This contribution discusses these challenges, points to existing tradeoffs, and outlines a research agenda. In doing so, it advances policy integration as a means of societal transformation and provides a foundation to connect it with transition policies more systematically.