Location
Ceremonial Mootcourt Room
Start Date
4-7-2012 1:15 PM
End Date
4-7-2012 2:45 PM
Description
Local governments were among the first levels of government to develop and implement policies and measures to combat climate change. They remain in many respects at the forefront of climate policy. Since the early 1990s they have acted collectively to create transnational voluntary climate change initiatives, from the Europe-based Climate Alliance and EU Mayors’ Covenant to the global Cities for Climate Protection campaign and carbonn Cities Climate Registry. After more than two decades of experience with the oldest of these initiatives, it is somewhat surprising that these transnational local government climate initiatives have not received more attention in the scholarly literature. This paper surveys more than a dozen of the most prominent transnational local government climate change initiatives, compares them against key variables likely to affect their performance (namely, process versus performance orientation; self-determined versus pre-determined targets; specificity of commitments; geographic scope; measurement, reporting and verification; and enforcement and sanctions), assesses the economic incentives and other factors driving or constraining their adoption (including externalities, free-rider incentives, cost savings, co-benefits, voter demand, symbolic action, political entrepreneurship, piggy-backing, “green” market opportunities, desire to shape future regulation, desire to put pressure on higher levels of government, principled normative beliefs, and opportunities for policy learning), and predicts their likely effects in terms of GHG emissions reductions, policy learning, and enhanced adaptation capacity. The paper concludes that modest optimism is warranted about the potential of such initiatives to foster climate change adaptation and policy learning in the long run, tempered by considerable skepticism about their potential to reduce global GHG emissions in the short run.
Presentation
Included in
Transnational Voluntary Climate Change Initiatives for Local Governments: Key Variables, Drivers, and Likely Effects
Ceremonial Mootcourt Room
Local governments were among the first levels of government to develop and implement policies and measures to combat climate change. They remain in many respects at the forefront of climate policy. Since the early 1990s they have acted collectively to create transnational voluntary climate change initiatives, from the Europe-based Climate Alliance and EU Mayors’ Covenant to the global Cities for Climate Protection campaign and carbonn Cities Climate Registry. After more than two decades of experience with the oldest of these initiatives, it is somewhat surprising that these transnational local government climate initiatives have not received more attention in the scholarly literature. This paper surveys more than a dozen of the most prominent transnational local government climate change initiatives, compares them against key variables likely to affect their performance (namely, process versus performance orientation; self-determined versus pre-determined targets; specificity of commitments; geographic scope; measurement, reporting and verification; and enforcement and sanctions), assesses the economic incentives and other factors driving or constraining their adoption (including externalities, free-rider incentives, cost savings, co-benefits, voter demand, symbolic action, political entrepreneurship, piggy-backing, “green” market opportunities, desire to shape future regulation, desire to put pressure on higher levels of government, principled normative beliefs, and opportunities for policy learning), and predicts their likely effects in terms of GHG emissions reductions, policy learning, and enhanced adaptation capacity. The paper concludes that modest optimism is warranted about the potential of such initiatives to foster climate change adaptation and policy learning in the long run, tempered by considerable skepticism about their potential to reduce global GHG emissions in the short run.