Understanding Input and Output Legitimacy of Environmental Policymaking in The Gulf Cooperation Council States Yasemin Atalay * Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ABSTRACT This article analyses environmental policymaking in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, with a focus on the output legitimacy of renewable energy uptake. Most environmental policy research so far has focused on either Western industrialized countries with established democra- cies or developing countries with either democratic or autocratic policymaking systems, and few studies have yet analyzed the overall effectiveness of these monarchies in environmental decisionmaking. The degree of this policy effectiveness is hence the focus of this paper. Specifically, the paper argues that, although there are a number of input legitimacy deficits in the six GCC countries (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman), there has been progress regarding renewable energy uptake. Thus, these monarchies may be relying more on out- put legitimacy than input legitimacy. Following up on the studies on input and output legitimacy, the main argument is that in certain cases useful policy results can be reached in the presence of not so strong input legitimacy, and other factors also have an impact on policymaking. The paper bases its analysis on an extensive study of primary and secondary sources, specifically institutional publications, international organization reports, newspaper articles and academic papers. With its analysis, the paper contributes to larger debates in environmental governance research on the relative effectiveness of renewable energy uptake in monarchical, resource-rich, rentier states. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment Received 26 February 2017; revised 21 September 2017; accepted 26 September 2017 Keywords: Gulf monarchies; effectiveness; environmental policy; renewable energy; legitimacy; governance Introduction G ULF COOPERATION COUNCIL (GCC) COUNTRIES MAKE UP A SUB-REGION WITHIN THE MIDDLE EAST, WITH THEIR SUI GENERIS RENTIER character, which stems from fossil resource abundance. The constant reliance of these countries on such resources has consolidated a particular state system over the years, which fostered patron–client relations and preferential treatment of the hydrocarbon-related sectors, and weakened the motives towards *Correspondence to: Yasemin Atalay, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: yasemin.atalay@vu.nl Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment Environmental Policy and Governance Env. Pol. Gov. (2017) Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/eet.1794