Urban Climate Governance
Start: 2019
Since the international community is not on track yet to meet sufficiently ambitious climate goals, we need to search for complementary approaches beyond national-level policies. Elinor Ostrom’s call for a polycentric approach to global climate policy is receiving increased attention, as researchers try to describe, analyze and seek to shape post-Paris climate governance.
Polycentric climate governance is more than theory: Subnational actors like city administrations are increasingly cooperating to address climate change. Several advocates and analysts look at this “urban climate governance” with increased optimism. It is unclear, though, whether it will contribute effectively to decarbonisation and climate resilience. Collective action, the fact that climate protection is a global public good, represents the main challenge for establishing a binding and effective international climate regime. Nation states have struggled with collective action. Why should thousands of cities be able to cooperate where less than two hundred nations have so far failed?
Researcher: Matteo Roggero, Anastasiia Gotgelf, Angelika von Dulong, Konrad Bierl
Lead Overall Project: Prof. Dr. Klaus Eisenack
Achievements:
Eisenack, Klaus, und Matteo Roggero (2022): Many Roads to Paris: Explaining Urban Climate Action in 885 European Cities. Global Environmental Change 72: 102439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102439.
Workshop on Urban Climate Action, November 9-11, 2022