Cities to the rescue?
- Despite the proliferation and promise of subnational climate initiatives, the institutional architecture of transnational municipal networks (TMNs) is not well understood. With a view to close this research gap, the article empirically assesses the assumption that TMNs are a viable substitute for ambitious international action under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It addresses the aggregate phenomenon in terms of geographical distribution, central players, mitigation ambition and monitoring provisions. Examining thirteen networks, it finds that membership in TMNs is skewed toward Europe and North America while countries from the Global South are underrepresented; that only a minority of networks commit to quantified emission reductions and that these are not more ambitious than Parties to the UNFCCC; and finally that the monitoring provisions are fairly limited. In sum, the article shows that transnational municipal networks are not (yet) the representative, ambitious and transparent player they areDespite the proliferation and promise of subnational climate initiatives, the institutional architecture of transnational municipal networks (TMNs) is not well understood. With a view to close this research gap, the article empirically assesses the assumption that TMNs are a viable substitute for ambitious international action under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It addresses the aggregate phenomenon in terms of geographical distribution, central players, mitigation ambition and monitoring provisions. Examining thirteen networks, it finds that membership in TMNs is skewed toward Europe and North America while countries from the Global South are underrepresented; that only a minority of networks commit to quantified emission reductions and that these are not more ambitious than Parties to the UNFCCC; and finally that the monitoring provisions are fairly limited. In sum, the article shows that transnational municipal networks are not (yet) the representative, ambitious and transparent player they are thought to be.…
Author details: | Jennifer S. BansardORCiD, Philipp H. PattbergORCiDGND, Oscar WiderbergORCiD |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-429806 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.25932/publishup-42980 |
ISSN: | 1867-5808 |
Title of parent work (German): | Postprints der Universität Potsdam Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe |
Subtitle (English): | Assessing the performance of transnational municipal networks in global climate governance |
Publication series (Volume number): | Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe (105) |
Publication type: | Postprint |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2019/06/17 |
Publication year: | 2017 |
Publishing institution: | Universität Potsdam |
Release date: | 2019/06/17 |
Tag: | cities and regions; climate change; transnational networks; urban politics |
Issue: | 105 |
Number of pages: | 18 |
First page: | 229 |
Last Page: | 246 |
Source: | International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics 17 (2017) 2 S. 229–246 DOI: 10.1007/s10784-016-9318-9 |
Organizational units: | Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access |
License (German): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |