Local Government and Climate Change I: institutions and actors for advancing local climate action

Abstract

Practitioner and scholarly interest in local climate governance have mushroomed over the last decade. Municipal climate managers have taken increasingly ambitious steps towards reducing both carbon emissions and the vulnerability of localities to the changing climate, particularly in larger cities. For their part, political scientists have responded by examining the actors, policies, and processes involved in these developments, to increase our understanding of how local and multilevel governance arrangements operate in different contexts and also to propose practical ways in which municipalities might seek to address climate challenges. This first panel on local climate governance brings together papers that examine the structures, institutions, and actors that facilitate or hinder climate action in local contexts. As such, it explores larger theoretical questions about local agency; capacity for leadership within a multi-level governance system, and the extent to which local government officials can be considered impactful policy actors in their own right.

Title	Details
Institutional Climate Activism: why do cities fight for a better planet?	View Paper Details
Urban sustainability in Germany: Which factors can explain the variety of commitment?	View Paper Details
Structure, agency and local climate governance: How do individual actors shape policymaking in smaller cities and towns?	View Paper Details
Barriers and Opportunities to Implementing Climate Action Policy in Irish Local Authorities	View Paper Details