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The design and implementation of targeted policies and programmes are crucial to addressing climate challenges. In this study, we sought to understand the means by and extent to which the Central American Climate-Smart Agriculture Strategy (EASAC) has contributed to addressing the specific climate challenges facing the regional agricultural sector. We applied a theory-based evaluation and contribution analysis to examine this policy and identified 252 changes at the national and regional levels that align with the EASAC theory of change (ToC). Contribution analysis revealed that none of the 23 changes we assessed could be attributed solely to the EASAC; however, it contributed directly, in combination with other actors and institutions, to 10 such changes. Our results question the efficacy of non-binding regional policies, such as the EASAC, in influencing national policy changes and highlight the dependency of climate policy implementation on international cooperation in the Central American Integration System region. Intersectoral and actor coordination, the availability of technical and research expertise, and research input appear critical to the successful implementation of regional climate policy. Key policy insights Theory-based assessments and contribution analyses are relevant and rigorous tools that can be effectively applied to climate policy. They enable a deeper understanding and more effective management of climate governance. International organizations play crucial roles in translating international agreements into policies, particularly in Central America, where public climate finance remains limited. Such organizations are responsible for developing and funding policies that align with these agreements. Many changes aligned with the EASAC ToC framework have been observed, reflecting the dynamic process of up-scaling regional climate-smart agriculture. Most changes have been focused on policy formulation and adjustment, with fewer related to establishing alliances and platforms for dialogue. The EASAC strategy of targeting non-binding regional governance to influence national governments is inherently limited and may be ineffective on its own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst increasing polarization on climate policy, Pope Francis’ exhortation Laudate Deum (October 2023) is a contribution to keep the planetary emergency up on the global agenda. In contrast with his previous encyclical Laudato si’, the Pontiff unequivocally states the anthropic origin of climate change. Justifying his plea with the lack of progress of multilateralism without formal mechanisms of enforcement, the Pontiff explicitly calls for new governance arrangements and binding instruments for the enforcement of climate protection agreements. With no legal character for the Church, the document has had no strong effect in the short run. However, in line with recent pronouncements of other religious leaders, it is a vigorous moral challenge to climate scepticism and inertia, restating the engagement of religion as an agent for change in promoting climate action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent decades have seen institutionalized procedures for youth representation in global climate governance, and significant visibility for youth climate activists. Despite these improvements, young representatives continue to bear witness about tokenized forms of participation and a lack of influence. This article seeks to address this ambiguous development by focusing on the materiality of youth representation in United Nations climate conferences. Through interviews and participant observations at COP26 and COP27, as well as COY16 and COY17, we analyse the bureaucratic and socio-economic barriers to representation, the knowledge resources and competitiveness of the routes to representation, and the spatial ordering and subversive tactics on site at the summits. We show that these materialities shape youth’s discursive strategies, thus helping to explain who gets to be a representative and what forms of subjectivities, agendas, claims, and strategies that become possible in the global climate governance regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental governance occurs through and is shaped by communication. We propose a typology of public communication, classifying it by directionality (one-way or two-way) and objective (informational or operational). We then review how communication types influence individuals' conceptual frames, values, and environmental behaviors. Though one-way communication is common, its impact is often limited to influencing conceptual frames. Research on two-way informational communication demonstrates a greater ability to align conceptual frames and values among individuals, and research on two-way operational communication demonstrates the greatest impact on conceptual frames, values, and environmental behaviors. Factors that affect the impact of communication include the medium through which it occurs, trust, timing, and social-material context. Among these, our review considers new directions in public communication research that focus on the role of digital platforms, misinformation, and disinformation. We conclude by synthesizing research on deliberative communication, a case of communication among citizens guided by democratic ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global goals play a catalyzing role in orienting efforts to address climate change. Yet, the negotiation of the main goal in climate governance is understudied. This article aims to fill this gap by examining the negotiation, adoption, and refinement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (unfccc) Long-Term Global Goal (ltgg), from the late 1970s to date. I gather insights from semi-structured interviews with climate governance experts, the scientific literature, and official documentation to highlight the developments that shaped the ltgg over time. The study shows that agential, ideational, normative, structural, and contextual factors co-interacted in negotiating, adopting, and refining the ltgg. Drawing lessons from the ltgg experience, the manuscript contributes to knowledge on the politics of global goals, international negotiations, climate governance, and, more broadly, international relations, diplomacy, and global environmental politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The annual UN climate conferences synchronize major social worlds, including politics, media, business, science, and law. They therefore attract anyone interested in high-profile performances such as protest action. With the post-Paris turn in global environmental governance, scholarly interest in theatrical aspects of climate governance is increasing. Activism at climate conferences, however, has not yet been studied through a dramaturgical lens. We propose the concept of ‘dramaturgical infrastructure’ to complement Goffman’s focus on self-presentation with the material and immaterial context beyond the micro-level of situated interactional practices. Based on fieldwork at the 2021 climate conference in Glasgow, we describe how activists draw on and mobilize a dramaturgical infrastructure of scripts, spaces, rituals, and requisites for their performances, and how this results in role-taking on the Glasgow stage. We identify the roles of the watchdog, the participant, the disrupter, and the connector, each with distinctive patterns of compliance with or distancing from post-Paris climate governance and the news media. The dramaturgical perspective suggests that climate conferences provide encounters that educate activists to be aware of the component of self-presentation in their activism and to design performances for high public, policy, and media attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This commentary reflects on a longstanding interdisciplinary exchange across geography and political science, which has crystallised into the scholarship on climate governance. This debate has fundamentally shaped ideas on how climate change can be managed as a societal challenge and with what consequences. The analysis briefly maps the emergence of climate governance as a concept and its progressive embedding in climate policy discourse. Next, the discussion reflects on how the application of associated frameworks may become increasingly ‘stretched’, as theoretical toolkits travel far beyond the settings in which they were developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional corporate governance mechanisms can improve corporate financial and non-financial disclosures. However, how corporate climate governance affects firms' waste disclosure remains unclear. Contributing to the emerging climate governance concept, this study investigates climate governance's impact on waste disclosure using a sample of U.S. non-financial firms from 2002 to 2019. This study makes two contributions to the disclosure and governance literature. First, it shows that high-quality climate governance improves firms' waste disclosure (including hazardous and non-hazardous waste disclosures). It reveals that climate governance quality affects firms' waste disclosure through several channels. Second, we show that higher waste disclosure and climate governance quality reduce firms' market performance. Climate governance quality has a significant positive moderating role in the relationship between waste disclosure and firms' market performance; higher climate governance quality positively impacts firms' market performance through waste disclosure. The results are robust to alternative proxies for waste disclosure, different regression techniques, and endogeneity issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the most important issues of our time. However, its diffuse and complex nature makes it difficult to find global and effective solutions, as these require multi-scale contributions. Although the international climate regime primarily involves states, actors from other levels of government also have active international climate agendas. This is certainly true of several Canadian provinces. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive portrait of the paradiplomatic actions that Canadian provinces have undertaken around climate change. The comparative analysis presented here is based on a conceptual framework that distinguishes three types of paradiplomatic instruments: institutionalization, the use of intra-state routes, and the use of extra-state routes. Our analysis shows that Canadian provinces pursue similar paradiplomatic strategies, but that their intensity and sustainability vary widely according to the availability of economic and human resources, as well as political will. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BRICS countries comprise 41.87% of the world's population and generate over 42% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. As the largest political cluster in global climate governance, their positions and alignment in the post-Paris Agreement era would determine the future trajectory of climate governance for the international communities. This article aims to ascertain the respective positions of BRICS nations by examining their nationally determined contributions and targets for carbon peak and neutrality. Through this analysis, the article endeavors to consolidate a comprehensive BRICS decarbonization roadmap, providing stakeholders and policymakers with greater clarity. In addition, in-depth case studies from China and India, the two biggest emitters, offer valuable insights into their climate mitigation paths. This would inspire unity among the BRICS countries and encourage them to uphold the stability of their partnership in climate governance collectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to shed light on the influence of climate governance on carbon emission disclosure. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on S&P BSE 500 Indian firms over six years, i.e. from 2016–2017 to 2021–2022. The panel regression has been used to determine the association between climate governance and carbon emission disclosure. Findings: The results of this study suggest that climate governance exerts a significant influence on corporate carbon emission disclosure. Moreover, results corroborate that climate governance elements such as the environment committee, carbon strategy and environment management system are critical contributors to carbon emission disclosure. Practical implications: This study adds to the emerging literature on climate change, carbon emission disclosure, corporate governance and climate governance. Social implications: This work provides valuable insights to corporate managers and policymakers as the study concludes that climate governance enhances firms' carbon emission disclosure. Originality/value: Earlier literature has examined the influence of corporate governance on carbon emission disclosure. However, this study extends to the corporate governance literature by providing novel insights into how integrating climate governance elements into corporate governance can influence carbon emission disclosure. Moreover, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to explore the association between climate governance and carbon emission disclosure in the Indian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2015 Paris climate Agreement established a ‘bottom-up’, pledge and review process as international climate governance’s central framework. The European Union’s governance framework – the Energy and Climate Governance Regulation (EUGR) – uses a similar architecture. Both require states to regularly create, revise and update national plans while ramping up ambitions towards meeting the collectively agreed commitments and sharing features of Experimentalist Governance. This paper contributes to the debate on experimentalist climate governance’s effectiveness. It assesses systematically the implementation of EUGR based on documentary analysis and expert interviews. We find that the process has been partially effective in raising ambitions but has remained incremental, technocratic and depoliticised. Experimentalist processes such as the EUGR and Paris Agreement require a high level of public and stakeholder engagement to operate but politicisation can have, in turn, adverse effects. This raises questions regarding the ability of experimentalist climate governance to deliver, alone, rapid emission reductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise in global sea levels poses a substantial, sometimes existential threat to coastal cities around the world, such as Bangkok, Lagos, or Jakarta. Adaptation projects range from hard infrastructure to nature-based solutions or 'planned retreat', often having severe implications in terms of equity and equality. Given the threat of urban flooding and submergence, this paper asks how 'the future' for these cities is imagined, and how sociotechnical imaginaries of climate futures inform policymaking. Using insights from poststructuralism and Science and Technology Studies (STS), I argue that the way of 'seeing' and 'knowing' sea level rise is constitutive of the rationalities that undergird the governing of rising water around the world. I trace the discrete operations of the discursive formations and imaginaries that have evolved globally around the issue of sea level rise, with their own distinctive logics. Analyzing a variety of globally circulating policy documents and local adaptation projects, I show how the governance of sea level rise is based on a very specific 'expert' knowledge that allows re-designing sinking cities 'from above'. This kind of knowledge, provided by a depoliticizing global network of consultants, designers, and development banks, privileges imaginaries of modernity and control using technology and engineering, as well as ideas on how populations in flood-prone areas are expected to govern themselves in the advent of rising sea levels. These imaginaries tend to marginalize alternative local adaptation practices, lead to unintended outcomes, and often discriminate against those who are already vulnerable to climate change impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All governance systems are polycentric to some extent in that they comprise multiple actors with varying degrees of autonomy. However, there has been limited theorization as to how we might measure polycentricity, even though this could help us unpack networks and understand governance arrangements better. We present three dimensions of governance to conceptualize degrees of polycentricity—governance of networks (internal organization and management at the network level), governance by networks (their impacts at the membership level), and governance with networks (collaboration with other actors at the system level). We then trace the evolution of three transnational municipal networks (the Climate Alliance, Covenant of Mayors, and 100 Resilient Cities/Resilient Cities Network), which are located at different positions along the polycentric–monocentric spectrum. We examine how these networks have become more or less polycentric over time and highlight trade-offs between different dimensions of polycentric governance, most notably governance of and governance by. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societal transformations for addressing climate change are intensely contested and at risk of resistance and backlash to ambitious policy action. But they are frequently modeled through heuristics such as S‐curves which abstract from such conflicts, assuming increasing returns to scale as a driver of transformations. This is the case even while scholars accept the presence of political conflict in transformation processes. Within political science and allied disciplines, the notions of policy feedback and policy coalitions have been deployed to understand how such political conflicts may be understood. But these approaches risk gravitating toward an instrumental design impulse that inadvertently downplays conflict. We argue that policy action for societal transformations should be re‐conceptualized as an unfolding series of battle‐settlement events whereby heated episodic political struggles over a certain policy object or issue play out and eventually settle in ways that structure future debates while nonetheless remaining indeterminate and open to challenge or reversal. Such an approach reflects the varied empirical experiences of climate policy action to date which include both accumulation and reversal. It also helps explain trajectories of change that are discontinuous and lurching in contrast to common images of transformation as progressive and cumulative. We illustrate this approach through two cases of unfolding societal transformation on climate change: coal phaseout in the United Kingdom and renewable energy uptake in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper interrogates the relationship between conventional planning and the emerging practice of urban experimentation through the lens of megaprojects. Focused on a low-carbon city project in Shenzhen, China, it illustrates how the project's large spatial-temporal scale facilitates a process of in-situ upscaling of planning innovation. This process involves iteratively trialing and refining novel practices through spatial demarcation and temporal phasing. This mutual constitution of megaprojects and experimentation highlights an urgent need to incorporate spatial and scale perspectives into studying and practicing urban experiments. This paper also highlights the re-negotiated planning paradox between control and flexibility under the experimental paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With climate change increasingly threatening people in uneven and disproportional ways, community-based solutions and interventions have become critical to ensure equitable, just, and inclusive climate action in cities. This paper examines community-based climate action in San Francisco (USA) through the lens of climate justice and intersectionality. Through a qualitative analysis of community-based organisations (CBOs) and their justice-oriented adaptation and mitigation efforts, our research examines the contributing factors and pathways by which CBO climate action leads to intersectional climate justice. Our analysis examines how CBOs 1) recognise and rectify historical and compounding vulnerabilities; 2) plan and act in ways that are people-centric and place-based; and 3) work collectively with organisations and government through alliances, coalitions, and participatory processes. We find that CBOs have the potential to work collectively to ensure processes are just and outcomes are equitable for those most at risk of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of policy entrepreneurs has gained increasing attention in studies of policy change, including climate policy and governance. It foregrounds the role of agency in understanding policy change. However, agency of policy entrepreneurs in the policy process is political and conceals the power that shapes how public problems and policies are framed and defined. Thus, policy entrepreneurs should be confronted with the challenge of generating legitimacy, accountability, and justice in their actions and the implementation of their targeted policy change. Drawing on political–philosophical theories of liberal and deliberative democracy as well as environmental and ecological democracy this paper outlines a conceptual framework for critical analytical as well as normative research on strategies and impacts of policy entrepreneurs on democratic governance, primarily in climate policy but also more generally. Empirical research on the strategies and impacts of policy entrepreneurs in recent policymaking on climate change mitigation in the EU and Sweden identifies several deficits related to the democratic principles of legitimacy, accountability, and justice. It is found that policy entrepreneurs from different social spheres use cultural–institutional entrepreneurship to influence beliefs and perceptions on problems and policies. In addition, it is found that public sector policy entrepreneurs use structural entrepreneurship on ideological grounds to change existing power relations in climate governance. In all, the paper brings ideology and politics into research on policy entrepreneurs. It is suggested that not only the strategies used, but also the ideologies of the actors that use them, are decisive for the impacts of policy entrepreneurs, and thus, whether their advocacy will adhere to democratic norms and facilitate or hamper a just transition to climate neutrality and sustainability. The paper ends with proposals on how policy entrepreneurs can act more democratically, how to deal with populist policy entrepreneurs wanting to erode democracy, and conditions for climate justice movements to take responsibility and act in a more entrepreneurial way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities and local governments are important actors in the global governance of climate change; however, the specific governance principles and arrangements that enable urban climate plans and policies to realize commitments to social equity and justice remain largely unexplored. This article uses the City of Barcelona, Spain, as a critical case study of emerging "intersectional climate justice" practice, where plans to build resilience to climate change are pursued in conjunction with efforts to tackle structural inequalities in accessing the built environment, health services, energy, housing, and transportation experienced by frontline communities. The study illustrates how Barcelona and its community partners do this through four different categories of governance and decision‐making tactics, which include: (1) experimenting with disruptive planning strategies; (2) working transversally across agencies and actors to institutionalize climate justice over time; (3) putting care at the center of urban planning; and (4) mobilizing place‐based approaches to tackle intersecting vulnerabilities of frontline residents. These tactics seek to redistribute the benefits of climate‐resilient infrastructures more fairly and to enhance participatory processes more meaningfully. Finally, we assess the limitations and challenges of mobilizing these tactics in everyday urban politics. Barcelona's experience contributes to research on climate governance by challenging the notion of distinct waves of governance and revealing concurrent dimensions of climate urbanism that coexist spatially and temporally. Our research also illustrates lessons for fairer climate governance in the city, where different tactics are mobilized to address structural and intersecting socioeconomic vulnerabilities that exacerbate the experience of climate change of frontline residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the challenges of decentralising climate governance in the Global South in the context of intensifying climate change. Using qualitative methods of data collection and analysis, we interviewed a total of 112 participants who participated in the study, including traditional leaders, ward councillors, subject-matter experts, government officials and members of the public who took part in focus group discussions. Our results show that devolution, delegation, deconcentration and privatisation have been used as strategies for decentralising climate action in the Itezhi-Tezhi District. However, these methods of decentralisation are affected by several factors, including unclear rules for elected and appointed leaders, which influence the devolution of decision-making responsibilities at the local government level. Regarding delegation, decentralising climate governance is affected by inadequate public participation, particularly in the design and execution of climate initiatives in the Kafue wetlands. Furthermore, this article shows that deconcentration is likely to affect climate governance because the national government has not deconcentrated the units for climate governance from the line ministry to the local authority. Privatisation, which has been an effective way of decentralising climate governance in the Kafue wetlands, has also been problematic due to inadequate community participation. These challenges and opportunities serve as lessons for building resilience in effective decentralised climate governance in the Kafue wetlands. This article adds to the ongoing discourse on the efficacy of decentralising climate governance in the Global South and offers valuable insights for future research in this genre of academic inquiry in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In the complex world of international negotiations, nation-states often navigate a spectrum of political relationships, from alliances and partnerships to competition and rivalry. Despite their diverse backgrounds and interests, the BRICS countries collectively constitute a significant proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions. Drawing upon the principles of neoliberal institutionalism, this study delves into the origins of the BRICS cooperation mechanism and its impact on climate cooperation among its member states. Our analysis traces the climate policies of BRICS nations since the inception of the UNFCCC in 1992, taking into consideration factors such as their level of economic development, environmental vulnerability, and the broader international political context. We argue that these three factors primarily shape the dynamics of alliance and partnership within BRICS regarding climate governance, although underlying competition may also influence collaborative efforts. This study aims to stimulate further theoretical discourse on the formation of political alliances within the context of global climate governance.

During COVID-19, many cities built pop-up infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians. We analyse the experiences of Geneva and Lyon through a qualitative approach based on document analysis and interviews with institutional and societal actors. We explore what contributed to the development of pop-up infrastructure during COVID-19, and how these interventions were shaped by and affected policy-making processes and actors' agency. We found that COVID-19 accelerated social and political trends regarding urban mobility. In both cities, authorities used the crisis to push through existing plans. Authorities' commitment and the existence of ready-to-implement plans proved crucial. The implementation processes constituted a breach from usual procedures. In Geneva, this empowered actors who usually act from the margins. In Lyon, authorities adopted pop-up infrastructure as a way to reduce costs. Our study clarifies the potential of experimentation in a context of crisis for urban climate governance and highlights the democratic implications of such interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the governance of climate change under the Paris Agreement, specifically focusing on the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) as a governance instrument. The author argues that the adoption of the Paris Agreement did not resolve many of the differences between states, and further research is needed to accurately interpret its results. The article outlines five aspects for future research on NDCs, including the need to consider both countries' positions during negotiations and the adopted decisions, as well as the interlinkages between NDCs and other parts of the Paris Agreement. The author also highlights the importance of avoiding oversimplification and considering the political struggles that surround climate governance. [Extracted from the article]

In addressing the challenges of climate change (CC), companies face the difficult task of reconciling long‐term environmental goals and short‐term financial interests. In this paper, we argue that that effective climate governance enables companies to balance both objectives, supporting a business case for CC action. For a sample of 832 multinationals for the period 2011–2020, the findings show that effective climate governance leads to higher corporate financial performance (FP) and this relationship is strengthen by better climate performance. Furthermore, effective climate governance is driven by the ownership of long‐term institutional investors, whose positive influence is reinforced by homogeneous distribution of their ownership. We provide a broad analytical framework that considers the determinants and effects of climate governance, from which theoretical and practical implications can be derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a thorough analysis of the scientific production in climate change and adaptation in Brazil. We conducted a bibliometric and bibliographic review to reveal and discuss how climate change research has been carried out. We compared a broader climate change research dataset with a more specific climate adaptation research dataset, to understand the main differences and convergence points, and how science conducted from a mitigation and adaptation perspective demonstrates potential to confront the climate change challenges and drivers in Brazil. Four main clusters of investigation within climate change were detected: (1) impacts on forest and plant development, (2) land use and ecology, (3) adaptation/governance, and (4) climate/atmospheric studies. Only about 5% of the total studies on climate change address adaptation, for which three main clusters of research were identified: (1) adaptation actions and policies; (2) urban environment, vulnerability, and health and (3) food and coastal impacts. Although there are strong research trends in climate change for the Amazon Forest, there was less evidence of studies concerning climate adaptation for this and other Brazilian biomes, smaller cities, rural and traditional communities, and poorer regions. Our results shed a light on the more commonly chosen research topics, their strongest points and potential gaps and trends. This can contribute to the scientific communication and implementation of climate actions in Brazil, and a better understanding of the climate science knowledge from the perspective of a middle-income country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main challenges for modern international law is its capacity to deal with global public interests. In a world characterized by growing interdependence, the international community requires instruments to regulate the global commons, provide global public goods, and enforce its fundamental values. In this context, this article contributes to the debate on the legal consequences of recognizing climate stability as a global public good. While these goods are regulated on a case-by-case basis, some of them have the status of being common concerns of humankind. Since the ICJ and the ILC have not clarified the content of this legal status, I discuss the main academic perspectives and propose a new standpoint. Considering the current stage of public international law, I argue that the common concern status does not generate new state obligations but impacts the content of those commitments already included in the international climate change regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study recalculates the carbon emissions of urban and rural residents in China, analyzing the dynamic evolution trends of urban and rural carbon emissions. It explores the spatial spillover effects centered around the inequality in carbon emissions between urban and rural areas. Methods: The study calculates the carbon emissions of urban and rural residents in each province based on the IPCC method. Non- parametric kernel density estimation is employed to depict the dynamic evolution characteristics of national, urban, and rural carbon emissions. The Theil Index is used to measure the disparities in urban and rural carbon emissions in major strategic regions, further applying the Theil Index to evaluate the inequality of urban and rural carbon emissions across provinces. This helps identify the driving factors affecting the inequality of urban and rural carbon emissions and their spatiotemporal effects. Finding: Carbon emissions from urban and rural residents in China present a divergent development pattern. Urban emissions have increased, with interprovincial disparities widening; rural emissions tend to stabilize, with slight growth in inter-provincial gaps. The overall inequality of carbon emissions in various regions of China experiences a three-phase journey of rise, decline, and stabilization. Urban inequality first increases then decreases, while rural inequality gradually lessens, showing clear regional and urban-rural differences. Market and government factors significantly impact the inequality of urban and rural carbon emissions. The development of the digital economy aids in reducing inequality and generates significant spatial spillover effects. The relationship between economic development level and carbon emission inequality is U-shaped. Industrial structure optimization can reduce urban-rural inequality, but its spatial spillover effect is not significant. Government intervention has limited effects, while environmental regulations may increase inequality. Opening up to the outside world helps reduce inequality, and the impact of population density is complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The People's Republic of China (China) is a key country for achieving the global 1.5°C climate target. Since 2006, it has become the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG). Despite this increased relevance of China for effective climate governance, we lack a holistic understanding of China's factual role in climate governance, both domestically and on the international stage. To advance our knowledge of China's role and relevance in climate governance, we perform a systematic literature review in the field of climate governance between 2009 and 2019. We identify four main research themes that structure the scholarly debate on China's climate governance, distilled from a review of 250 articles. These are: a) the motivations behind China's climate action; b) available policy instruments for governing climate change; c) the role of non-state actors; and d) comparative analysis between China and other countries. We found that the current literature focuses predominantly on how to govern climate change at specific levels through a range of case studies. What is missing is an assessment of the coherence, or lack thereof, among different policy levels and policy instruments, as well as a detailed analysis of the role and relevance of non-state actors in China's climate governance. We encourage scholars to factor in these gaps when developing future research. The main motivations behind China's climate action are domestic considerations, in particular, the need to decouple economic growth from emissions. In general, China has addressed climate change by leveraging existing institutional arrangements. These institutions are instruments of public policy and remain the primary mechanism for managing climate mitigation and adaptation in China. The key to implementing climate policy in China lies in local governments. How local governments perceive, behave, and balance different priorities affects the final outcome. Non-state actors do have opportunities to participate in climate governance in China. However, participation is limited to actors with economic or technological expertise, such as large domestic firms, research institutes, international development banks, and transnational companies. Countries adopt similar climate policy instruments despite their various institutional composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We illustrate how the two mid-sized post-socialist eastern German cities Potsdam and Rostock have managed to become climate pioneers, despite being located in regions that have been reluctant with regard to climate action. Drawing on municipal documentation and fieldwork interviews, we show how favorable and interrelated conditions concerning a city's socio-demographic, socio-economic, and particularly political situation were more important for progressive climate action than both cities' embeddedness in their respective regions. We also show how the absence of external ambitions and mayoral support hindered Potsdam and Rostock from making the leap from a pioneer to a leader. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of corporate characteristics on climate change governance among 100 of the world's largest companies, with 1400 observations in the fiscal year 2020. We consider variables such as company location, size, profitability, female board representation, years of reporting using Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) guidelines, the inclusion of UN Global Compact and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) information, Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) membership, MSCI ESG ratings, and the presence of a climate transition plan, a sustainability executive, and a sustainability board committee. Applying a multi-theoretical framework, we employ correlation analysis and univariate and multiple linear regressions to assess the relationships. Our findings reveal positive correlations between climate governance and the presence of a climate transition plan, MSCI ratings, DJSI membership, and the existence of a sustainability executive. Additionally, companies located in developed countries exhibit significantly higher levels of climate change governance. These results hold across various scenarios, offering valuable insights for researchers, academics, business leaders, practitioners, and regulators. With the growing importance of climate change reporting, understanding the key contributing factors for effective climate governance is crucial for organizations seeking to address this critical issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021, the European Union (EU) adopted the so-called European Climate Law (ECL), enshrining in law the 2050 climate-neutrality objective and upgraded 2030 emission reduction target. The ECL bears the hallmarks of what we term 'procedural climate governance', which comprises the regulatory frameworks, instruments, institutions and processes that shape substantive climate policies and their implementation. This article identifies seven key functions of procedural climate governance—target-setting; planning; monitoring and evaluation; climate policy integration; scientific expert advice; access to justice; and public participation—and uses these for critically assessing the ECL. We argue that while the ECL has significantly strengthened important aspects of EU procedural climate governance, further reforms are needed for the EU to develop and implement the substantive policies towards a climate-neutral and climate-resilient economy and society and to bolster public support and ownership of the transition. The upcoming reviews of the ECL and the Governance Regulation provide a critical opportunity for strengthening procedural climate governance in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academics have often contributed to designing, running, and evaluating participatory events with publics on climate action. Whilst climate assemblies are perhaps the most well-known of such events, there is also a proliferation of smaller and more local projects suggesting scope for reflection on the role of academic researchers in this evolving space. We deploy an experimental methodology that blends personal reflections with group discussion amongst the authors to help unpack the lessons learned from a project led by the local council, where we facilitated the involvement of local people in decision-making around climate action. Reflecting on our individual and academic positionalities, we question the extent to which we are well placed to build, maintain, and sustain trust, which requires spending time in place, continuity, and ceding power. As “outsiders” with “elite connotations,” our role as actors in this space is open for discussion. Indeed, our involvement could be perceived as a missed opportunity to retain more money and knowledge locally by ceding more responsibility to grassroots organisations. Our experience also suggests that framing public participation in terms of design and facilitation deficit is somewhat misleading. It is not just a process that needs to be attuned to diverse communities, but an ongoing relationship that needs certain enabling conditions to flourish, including conducive funding frameworks and a willingness to address incumbent power differentials between state and non-state actors.

The rise in global sea levels poses a substantial, sometimes existential threat to coastal cities around the world, such as Bangkok, Lagos, or Jakarta. Adaptation projects range from hard infrastructure to nature-based solutions or ‘planned retreat’, often having severe implications in terms of equity and equality. Given the threat of urban flooding and submergence, this paper asks how ‘the future’ for these cities is imagined, and how sociotechnical imaginaries of climate futures inform policymaking. Using insights from poststructuralism and Science and Technology Studies (STS), I argue that the way of ‘seeing’ and ‘knowing’ sea level rise is constitutive of the rationalities that undergird the governing of rising water around the world. I trace the discrete operations of the discursive formations and imaginaries that have evolved globally around the issue of sea level rise, with their own distinctive logics. Analyzing a variety of globally circulating policy documents and local adaptation projects, I show how the governance of sea level rise is based on a very specific ‘expert’ knowledge that allows re-designing sinking cities ‘from above’. This kind of knowledge, provided by a depoliticizing global network of consultants, designers, and development banks, privileges imaginaries of modernity and control using technology and engineering, as well as ideas on how populations in flood-prone areas are expected to govern themselves in the advent of rising sea levels. These imaginaries tend to marginalize alternative local adaptation practices, lead to unintended outcomes, and often discriminate against those who are already vulnerable to climate change impacts.

Current post-carbon transition trajectories are primarily focused on external solutions, while citizens' inner lives and roles in collective transformation and system change processes are largely overlooked. To address this gap, this study aims to explore the potential role of citizens as active agents of change. Specifically, it examines how citizens perceive and address climate change, the factors that can empower and motivate them to act, and how they imagine future transformation pathways and their own role within them. Based on a combined SenseMaker and Grounded Theory methodology, we explore citizens' perspectives and discuss their implications for improving current approaches and discourses, such as lifestyle environmentalism and post-growth. Our findings provide important insights into the interplay between people's motivation, sense of agency, and social paradigms, with direct implications for policy and practice. They show that the materialistic growth paradigm under which most people act does not support motivation and engagement in sustainability transformations. Secondly, although intrinsic motivation, along with values such as care and community, increase engagement and transformation, they are seldom reflected in current policy approaches and discourses. Thirdly, a sense of agency is key for lasting individual and collective engagement. Put together, the results indicate that empowering individual and collective agency requires challenging current societal and systemic values that lie at the root of today's crises. Supporting conditions that allow the emergence of new social paradigms through targeted actions at individual, collective, and system levels is thus crucial to tackling climate change and meeting policy targets [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of digital technologies poses opportunities and challenges for transparency and accountability in climate governance. This paper examines their impact on information flows and accountability in the context of climate outcomes, analyzing three case examples (World Bank Climate Warehouse, Climate TRACE, and OpenClimate) to assess the potential of digital solutions to improve data availability and reliability, particularly for non-state actors (NSAs). Using Ostrom's 'rules in use' framework, we explore how digital technologies shape transparency outcomes, highlighting challenges and unintended consequences. We analyze how these initiatives frame, design, and implement their rules for digital approaches to define their participants' data collection, purpose, and access rules, all of which are crucial aspects impacting transparency and accountability for the Paris Agreement. Our findings reveal uncertainties in the rules' operationalization for these digital technologies that undermine their potential to enhance transparency. Three key issues emerge: (1) establishing appropriate rules to govern data quality for accuracy and credibility; (2) addressing power imbalances to foster inclusive and equitable transparency; and (3) aligning rules in use across digitally-enabled solutions to promote coordination and facilitate polycentrism in the post-Paris climate regime. These insights shed light on the role of digital approaches in bridging transparency and accountability gaps, emphasizing the need for careful rule design and coordination for effective implementation in global climate governance. Digital technologies have the potential to generate new modes of transparency within the Paris climate governance system, particularly at the level of non-state and subnational actors. By comparing three case examples employing digital technologies to improve climate data, we evaluate various formal and informal 'rules in use' for generating data and facilitating sharing across actors and initiatives to enhance transparency and accountability. To leverage the potential of digital technologies in advancing transparency and accountability in climate governance, policymakers should prioritize the alignment of rules in use, address power imbalances, and ensure the creation of appropriate rules governing data quality and structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on transnational city networks on climate change focuses on how they form part of a reorganization of the character of global politics away from state-centric forms of governance towards either multilevel, transnational and/or 'polycentric' governance. Consistent with these broad approaches to global (climate) governance, work specifically on city networks focuses on their abilities to generate coordination, learning and experimentation across and within cities regarding climate change. This article argues that analyzing these networks within political economy frameworks generates different but important additional insights. Drawing on the analysis of two cities in Latin America—Mexico City and Lima—within the C40 network, the article argues that C40 promotes particular forms of investment in its member cities, pursuing the interests of transnational capital and assembling combinations of actors to generate this effect. While such a dynamic within C40 may promote decarbonization, it nevertheless skews the process of responding to climate change in those cities. It does so by coercing those cities to prioritize climate mitigation rather than adaptation, over-riding local preferences, and, ignoring local expertise. As a result, C40 undermines the capacity for such cities to generate their own solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change disputes are on the rise globally, being brought against both States and corporate actors, and before judicial, quasi-judicial, and increasingly, non-judicial fora. While only a handful of cases have been successfully brought in Africa to date, the emerging and increasingly sophisticated policy, legislative and constitutional frameworks seeking to tackle Africa's extreme vulnerability to climate change impacts – coupled with the introduction of specialised environmental courts – render the region particularly fertile for future climate-related claims. In this article we offer some reflections on (i) jurisdictional 'hotspots' where claimants have been especially active in bringing disputes so far in the region; (ii) recent cases in Africa that fall in-step of the broader international trend of NGOs and environmental defenders using litigation to address climate governance gaps, identify and prevent environmental risks and promote human rights; and (iii) evolving and emerging categories of Africa-inspired climate change disputes, such as claims brought against parent companies in the English courts concerning alleged harms caused by African subsidiaries, or energy transition-related investment disputes before arbitral tribunals. We also share horizon-scanning insights on how disputes before non-judicial international fora are expected to rise (for example, before OECD National Contact Points and the UN Special Procedures mechanism). We further note how African courts are demonstrating an increased willingness to provide judicial resources and a platform for NGOs to intervene as third-party observers of climate cases, enabling them to provide expert perspectives on novel aspects of climate impacts on human rights to be taken into account in judges' decision-making. Furthermore, we predict that the NGOs and environmental activists already active in launching strategic climate litigation in other jurisdictions (namely North America, Europe, and Australia) are likely to make considerable efforts in developing regions like Africa, towards capacity-building of the judiciary instead. For example, NGOs have already signalled intentions to continue working with local lawyers and communities to draft, bolster, interpret and enforce new or existing legislation or constitutional rights, with a view to holding State and corporate actors to account for contributing to climate change without adequately safeguarding human rights and the environment while pursuing their investments and/or operations. We conclude with a recommendation to all affected stakeholders, whether as a prospective claimant, respondent, or third-party intervener in such cases, to seek advice from counsel who have experience advising clients in cross-border climate change-related disputes. Despite an enormous potential for such disputes in the region, because only a small number have been brought before the local courts in African states to date, potentially impacted stakeholders will need to carefully scrutinise decisions adopted in North America, Australia, and Europe for interpretative guidance on how African judges may approach similar cases domestically (for example, the recent decision by the European Court of Human Rights in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the policy implementation barriers that result in poor adaptation and enhanced risk of exposure to extreme vulnerabilities, based on experiences in Pakistan. A number of policy implementation barriers are identified including: (i) Whether policy development is seen as a closed or open consultation process, (ii) Whether policy is seen as a generic document or an instrument for specific actions, and (iii) Whether policy administration is seen as a central or devolved process. As a case study, Pakistan's national climate change policy was considered. Pakistan is the eighth most climate change impacted country in the world. The results conclude that a prevalent top‐down frame of management, centred‐around federalism, has created vacuums for misinterpretation, poor understanding amongst policy implementers and false expectations of policy goals. A critical aspect of this disconnect is the lack of inclusivity of critical stakeholder groups in the policy design and development stages thus creating various barriers resulting in mistrust between different governing entities and vice versa. The study also highlights the nature of this problem and recommends a closer examination of the prerequisites of engagement in climate decision‐making for better understanding and implementation of adaptation practices in de‐centralised governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is intended to understand the governance practices addressed in the literature to address climate change, identifying common variables, methods, regions, and sources of information that facilitate the framing of novel analyses for researchers and practitioners. We perform a systematic review of 45 studies between 1980 and 2019 published in Web of Science. The results suggest that policy, innovation, operations, and legitimacy are common variables in addressing climate change. Our findings show that Ordinary Least Squares and Panel Data are the most frequent methods developed in the literature. Emerging economies such as India, Brazil, Indonesia, Iran, South Korea, and Mexico offer an interesting context to explore. The climate crisis has become one of the major threats to modern society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the recognition of Indigenous Peoples' contributions to climate governance by the international community has gradually increased, a rights-based approach in national climate action is still largely absent. This article analyses the recognition of Indigenous Peoples' rights in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. We conducted a content analysis of all NDCs submitted between 2016 and May 2022. Through a five-pronged framework of sustainable self-determination, we assessed how the NDCs recognise: i. Indigenous Peoples as rights-holders; ii. Indigenous jurisdiction over land; iii. Indigenous knowledge systems; iv. Indigenous Peoples' right to full and effective participation in climate governance; and v. the legacy of colonialism. NDCs with references related to Indigenous Peoples are increasing. However, questions remain regarding their sincerity and commitment to implementation. States must therefore make more significant efforts to ensure that the NDCs take a rights-based approach and contribute to strengthening Indigenous Peoples' role and say in climate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the strengths and weaknesses of democracies in mitigating climate change, this article presents a review of more than two decades of research on the democracy-climate nexus. It studies 72 identified articles and book chapters in which correlation analyses between indicators of democracy and climate policy performances have been conducted. The review confirms that democracies tend to generate better climate policy outputs than autocracies, in terms of adoption of policies, laws and regulations. However, there is weak empirical evidence for an association between democratic development and CO2 emission reductions. While empirical evidence shows that democracy can promote decarbonization, aspects such as economic growth, income distribution, energy mix, state capacity and corruption can influence the outcome of decarbonization policy or even counteract it. The research indicates that with deployment of renewable energy, economic activities are increasingly disconnected from fossil fuel dependence, and the political influence of the fossil fuel industry reduced. This process could also enhance the capacity of democracies to accelerate the energy transition and reduce emission levels. Investments in renewable energy, together with policies aiming at combating corruption and accomplishing a fairer wealth distribution, could help to unleash the transformative capacity of democracy towards a low-carbon future. Studies show that democracies tend to generate better climate policy outputs than autocracies, but the empirical evidence that democracy promotes climate policy impact, such as decrease of CO2 emissions, is weak. Economic growth, income distribution, energy mix, and corruption influence climate policy performance significantly more than the level of democracy. In developing countries with rapid growth, democratic qualities do not have any noteworthy alleviating effect on emissions generated by growth; hence combating poverty and in parallel advancing and sustaining human freedom, without carbon-intensive economic development, can be challenging. Investments in renewable energy can enhance the capacity of democracies to decrease CO2 emissions, as economic activities are increasingly disconnected from fossil fuel dependency and the related political influence of the fossil fuel industry. None of the reviewed studies provide any evidence suggesting that autocratic regimes perform better on climate policy than democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of climate policy depend on the coherent integration of social, environmental and economic challenges, including Indigenous Peoples' demand for self-determination. Although Indigenous Peoples are gaining prominence in international climate change debates, their involvement in national legislation remains marginal. From an ethnographic approach, this article assesses the vertical coherence – integration of objectives set in international commitments, national policymaking and local implementation – of Chilean climate governance regarding Indigenous People's participation. I conducted documentary analysis, participant observation and interviews. International pledges promoting the participation of Indigenous Peoples in climate policy are increasing. However, these pledges may not translate into success at the national level. Fostering effective participation of Indigenous Peoples demands intercultural competences that critically address the challenges of policy implementation in Indigenous territories and better analysis of climate policy impacts, including stakeholders assessments. With justice as a guiding principle, national efforts can promote the transformation of international climate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several billionaires have recently emerged as leaders of climate governance. So far, little research has examined how they legitimize their involvement in climate networks. We argue that billionaire governance entrepreneurs have high levels of resources but low procedural legitimacy. They pursue output legitimacy to support their political action, highlighting their effectiveness in managing climate issues. Their main strategies, depoliticization, outgrouping, and technical solutionism, may give them short-term legitimacy but risk undermining their long-term goals of addressing climate change. We analyze the discursive legitimation strategies of a successful billionaire entrepreneur in transnational climate governance, Michael Bloomberg. Our empirical analysis is based on the study of more than 800 statements, speeches, and news releases related to Bloomberg's climate action from 2010 to 2021. It contributes to the study of entrepreneurship, leadership, philanthropy, and transnational actors in climate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous communities have a particular stake in climate and energy developments, and have come to occupy a central role in both the movement toward decarbonization of industrial societies and renewable energy transition. Yet they remain underrepresented and excluded from climate policy processes. This paper critically evaluates the case of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to foster inclusive decision-making, with a specific focus on the place of Indigenous peoples in these processes. We demonstrate the ways in which the IPCC provides limited voice for Indigenous peoples in the Panel's deliberations. We argue the IPCC's disregard for Indigenous knowledges - and Indigenous peoples - arises from a configuration of structural problems within the governance of decarbonization and the politics of knowledge production. We conclude the IPCC faces on-going challenges in supporting the democratic functioning of climate decision-making, including in upholding Indigenous peoples' internationally recognized human rights as political actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 9 April the European Court of Human Rights issued its first ever comprehensive decision in a climate litigation case. The ECtHR has set out clear directions for member states to follow to align their climate policies with human rights obligations. Domestic legislators across Europe must give these requirements serious consideration to ensure their climate laws not only meet these minimum standards but also effectively contribute to global climate goals. This is imperative for both environmental sustainability and the protection of fundamental human rights that climate change is affecting.

Following lengthy negotiations within Germany’s coalition government, on 26 April 2024, the Bundestag passed an amendment to the Federal Climate Protection Act. One part of the amendment in particular has drawn sharp criticism from environmental NGOs, experts, and commentators: the abolition of annual, sector-based targets for greenhouse gas emissions reduction, which form the basis of the obligation for ministries to submit ‘immediate action programmes’ (Sofortprogramme). We argue that many critics overestimated the effectiveness of the Sofortprogramm mechanism, as enshrined in the original version of the KSG, in enforcing Germany's ambitious climate targets. Instead, we must realistically assess the potential, and limits, of institutional design to deliver ambitious climate policy.

Mass renovation goals aimed at energy savings on a national scale require a significant level of public financial commitment. To identify target buildings, decision-makers need a thorough understanding of energy performance. Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) provide information about areas of space, such as land plots or a building’s footprint, without specifying exact locations. They cover only a fraction of dwellings. This paper demonstrates that learning from observed EPCs to predict missing ones at the building level can be viewed as a spatial interpolation problem with uncertainty both on input and output variables. The Kriging methodology is applied to random fields observed at random locations to determine the Best Linear Unbiased Predictor (BLUP). Although the Gaussian setting is lost, conditional moments can still be derived. Covariates are admissible, even with missing observations. We present applications using both simulated and real data, with a specific case study of a city in France serving as an example.

This contribution addresses the federal architecture of Belgium to understand its core functioning elements with regard to the country’s climate change governance. For several historic, cultural and political reasons, Belgium bears a heavily decentralised institutional and organisational setup, which, however, provides for several drawbacks when addressing face-offs and cross-cutting policy issues such as climate change. The compartmentalised allocation of powers and the intergovernmental conflicts arising as a result of diverging political stances at different levels of government towards climate action have led to several policy failures. This paper will thus first outline the complex governance structure of the Belgian federal state. While doing so, it will also underscore key formal and informal features underpinning policymaking in Belgium, which are of utmost relevance for climate policy. Next, it will chart such governance structure within the specific context of climate action in Belgium. Last, it will display some examples of climate policy failures to unfold how different tenets of the Belgian system interplay with climate change planning and policy implementation. Notably, Belgium displays an example of how decentralisation could be put at odds with the effective development and implementation of climate policy.