TY - JOUR A1 - Hickmann, Thomas A1 - Widerberg, Oscar A1 - Lederer, Markus A1 - Pattberg, Philipp H. T1 - The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat as an orchestrator in global climate policymaking JF - International review of administrative sciences : an international journal of comparative public administration N2 - Scholars have recently devoted increasing attention to the role and function of international bureaucracies in global policymaking. Some of them contend that international public officials have gained significant political influence in various policy fields. Compared to other international bureaucracies, the political leeway of the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has been considered rather limited. Due to the specific problem structure of the policy domain of climate change, national governments endowed this intergovernmental treaty secretariat with a relatively narrow mandate. However, this article argues that in the past few years, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat has gradually loosened its straitjacket and expanded its original spectrum of activity by engaging different sub-national and non-state actors into a policy dialogue using facilitative orchestration as a mode of governance. The present article explores the recent evolution of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat and investigates the way in which it initiates, guides, broadens and strengthens sub-national and non-state climate actions to achieve progress in the international climate negotiations.
Points for practitioners
The Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has lately adopted new roles and functions in global climate policymaking. While previously seen as a rather technocratic body that, first and foremost, serves national governments, the Climate Secretariat increasingly interacts with sub-national governments, civil society organizations and private companies to push the global response to climate change forward. We contend that the Climate Secretariat can contribute to global climate policymaking by coordinating and steering the initiatives of non-nation-state actors towards coherence and good practice. KW - climate change KW - environmental policymaking KW - intergovernmental relations KW - international bureaucracies KW - sub-national and non-state actors Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852319840425 SN - 0020-8523 SN - 1461-7226 VL - 87 IS - 1 SP - 21 EP - 38 PB - Sage CY - Los Angeles, Calif. [u.a.] ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bergström, Tomas A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Laffin, Martin A1 - Wayenberg, Ellen T1 - Special issue on comparative intergovernmental relations and the pandemic BT - how European devolved governments responded to a public health crisis JF - Local government studies N2 - This introduction and the special issue are a contribution to comparative intergovernmental studies and public administration. This introduction provides an analytical overview of the intergovernmental relations policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic across ten European countries, focussing on the early waves of the disease. These policy responses are analysed in terms of three types of IGR process: (1) a predominantly multi-layered policy process involving limited conflict, (2) a centralised policy process as the central government attempts to suppress conflict and (3) a conflicted policy process where such attempts are contested and tend to contribute to poor policy outcomes. The conclusion, then, reviews the difficulties and trade-offs involved in attaining a balanced multi-layered, intergovernmental process. KW - intergovernmental relations KW - pandemic comparative KW - government comparative KW - public policy Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2022.2039636 SN - 0300-3930 SN - 1743-9388 VL - 48 IS - 2 SP - 179 EP - 190 PB - Taylor & Francis CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Franzke, Jochen T1 - Multi-level responses to COVID-19 BT - crisis coordination in Germany from an intergovernmental perspective JF - Local government studies N2 - This article is aimed at analysing local and intergovernmental responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany during the ‘first wave’ of the pandemic. It will answer the question of how the intergovernmental system in Germany responded to the crisis and to what extent the pandemic has changed patterns of multi-level governance (MLG). The article argues that the coordination of pandemic management in Germany shifted between two ideal types of multi-level governance. While in the first phase of the pandemic the territorially defined multi-level system with the sub-national and local authorities as key actors of crisis management was predominant, in the second phase a more functional orientation with increased vertical coordination gained in importance. Later on, more reliance was given again on local decision-making. Based on this analysis, we will draw some preliminary conclusions on how effective MLG in Germany has been for coordinating pandemic management and point out the shortcomings. KW - intergovernmental relations KW - crisis KW - covid-19 KW - federalism KW - coordination KW - multi-level governance Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2021.1904398 SN - 0300-3930 SN - 1743-9388 VL - 48 IS - 2 SP - 312 EP - 334 PB - Taylor & Francis CY - London ER -