Dr Katherine Maxwell
GCHU Research Associate and Kellogg Visiting Fellow
Email: [email protected]
The paperback version of my book ‘Governance Networks for Sustainable Cities: Connecting theory and practice in Europe’ was published last month. In this blog, I explore the recommendations from the research on governance networks (defined cross-sectoral partnerships on a key policy issue such as climate change). Specifically, the role of city leadership in relation to sustainability decision-making.
Cities around the world are increasingly collaborating with urban stakeholders (horizontal) and with nation states and international agencies (vertical) to deliver on their climate targets. Since the publication of Agenda 21 in 1992, there has been increased emphasis on cities and their contribution to accelerating carbon reduction efforts. A critical recommendation of the book is the need for further research on city leadership in terms of collaborating on sustainability and the influence cities can have outside of their geographical borders and traditional political jurisdictions. The role of cities within international climate change decision-making has increased, as evidenced in recent COPs that has dedicated discussions to the role of cities, as well as the recent IPCC Special report on ‘cities and climate change’.
The book provides two case studies on European cities, Glasgow, and Copenhagen, detailing how each city has developed networks to govern sustainability actions. Importantly, each city plays a crucial international role, working with transnational municipal networks (TMNs) such as C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and ICLEI, to share best practice and access funding to deliver on their climate commitments (Bansard et al 2017). Cities roles now include engaging with political international organisations such as the UN, who frequently refer to cities as ‘actors’ within international diplomacy and relations (Acuto et al 2023). This is not to say that cities are now being seen as ‘mini’ nation states, but rather, their ability to help or hinder a nation states Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) is being recognised. Cities can supersede nation states climate ambitions and develop their own pathways towards a low carbon future. This is evidenced in recent years as some nation states, such as the United States, pulled out of the Paris Agreement in 2016 under the Trump Administration (Aust 2019). As a result, many cities responded to this by developing their own city-led networks to organise efforts to accelerate the reduction of carbon emissions at the national level. Therefore, the role of city leadership is shifting, as cities realise their influence and impact in numbers (by collaborating in formal or informal Mayoral-led sustainability networks).
The book highlights the ability of cities to experiment and innovate, with novel approaches such as the development of sustainability governance networks to deliver on climate commitments. As such, cities can implement politically popular climate solutions much faster than nation states as they are closer to citizens than the state (Acuto et al 2023). This enables cities to pioneer approaches and share best practice internationally via TMNs, raising their profile and influence within wider climate governance discussions. Cities are bolstering their standing on the international climate governance level regarding sustainability decision-making, by collaborating both horizontally and vertically with stakeholders. Future research could explore how cities are currently informally integrated into international climate decision-making and what future formal integration could look like, and the potential impact (if any) this would have on city climate leadership (Johnson 2018).
References
Acuto, M., Kosovac, A., Pejic, D. and Jones, T.L., 2023. The city as actor in UN frameworks: formalizing ‘urban agency’in the international system?. Territory, Politics, Governance, 11(3), pp.519-536.
Aust, H.P., 2019. The shifting role of cities in the global climate change regime: From Paris to Pittsburgh and back?. Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law, 28(1), pp.57-66.
Bansard, J.S., Pattberg, P.H. and Widerberg, O., 2017. Cities to the rescue? Assessing the performance of transnational municipal networks in global climate governance. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 17, pp.229-246.
Johnson, C.A., 2017. The power of cities in global climate politics: Saviours, supplicants or agents of change?. Springer.