Cities and Climate Change

Michelle Betsill, Harriet Bulkeley

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2003
• eBook ISBN: 9781134480722
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Environmental Science
• Index: Biological Sciences

Climate change is one of the most challenging issues of our time. As key sites in the production and management of emissions of greenhouse gases, cities will be crucial for the implementation of international agreements and national policies on climate change. This book provides a critical analysis of the role of cities in addressing climate change and the prospects for urban sustainability.
Cities and Climate Change is the first in-depth analysis of the role of cities in addressing climate change. The book argues that key challenges concerning the resources and powers of local government, as well as conflicts between local goals for economic development and climate change mitigation, have restricted the level of local action on climate change. These findings have significant implications for the prospects of mitigating climate change and achieving urban sustainability. This book provides a valuable interdisciplinary analysis of these issues, and will appeal to students and researchers interested in sustainability at local and global scales.

1 Introduction

Climate change is one of the most challenging scientific and political issues of our time.
The rapid collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica, the possible disappearance of the island of Tuvalau as sea levels rise, the decision of the reinsurance firm Munich Re to increase premiums and threats to European water supplies as a result of glacier retreat in the Alps are just some of the issues which are associated with climate change. Despite uncertainty as to whether any direct links can be drawn between current climatic events, recent trends in climate variables, such as temperature and precipitation, and predictions of global climate change, a consensus has emerged that ‘something’ needs to be done (see Box1.1). However, questions as to what should be done, by whom, and when, remain highly contested.

Box 1.1: What is climate change?

Climate change (also known as ‘global warming’) refers to an increase in mean annual surface temperature of the earth’s atmosphere, due to increases in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), CFCs and nitrous oxide (N₂O). According to the IPCC, concentrations of these gases have increased dramatically since 1750, due primarily to human activities such as the combustion of fossil fuels (Houghton et al. 2002). These gases absorb long-wave radiation and disrupt the earth’s energy balance, which in turn influences the climate system. The IPCC reports that the average global surface temperature increased 0.6ºC during the twentieth century (Houghton et al. 2002). This temperature increase has been linked to a number of observed changes in the global climate, including: a 0.1–0.2 metre rise in global average sea level; a 10 per cent decrease in snow cover since the late 1960s; more frequent, persistent and intense El Niño episodes since the 1970s; and more frequent and severe droughts in parts of Africa and Asia (Houghton et al.2002).

Sceptics suggest that there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that changes to the climate outside the scope of natural variability have taken, or will take, place. The IPCC argues in contrast that ‘the balance of evidence suggests that there is a discernible human influence on the global climate’ (Houghton et al.1996: 5). In 1999, the Chairman of the IPCC suggested that it is no longer a ‘question of whether the Earth’s climate will change, but rather when, where and by how much’ (Watson 1999). On the one hand, some hold the belief that changes will be gradual, incremental and within societal control. On the other hand, the IPCC suggest that significant changes in global average temperatures and regional climatic conditions are to be expected, and that there is the possibility of unpredictable alterations to the climate system (Grubb 1999; Houghton et al. 1996).

Given the global nature of the problem, answers to these questions have been sought through processes of international negotiation between nation-states. For over a decade, the need for action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, the relative responsibilities of different countries and the means through which action could, or should, be taken, have been the subject of fierce debate. Forging an international agreement, so it seems, is the hard part. Consequently, analysis of the politics of climate change has also focused on the international sphere, with some consideration of national positions and politics. In this book, we challenge the assumptions behind this approach. We argue that climate change is not only a global issue, it is also a profoundly local issue. In turn, recognizing that climate change is a local issue raises questions about the meaning and pursuit of urban sustainability and our concepts of global environmental governance. In the rest of this introduction, we consider why cities are central to the politics of climate change, before outlining the structure of the book.

Why cities and climate change?

The importance of local action as a means of securing global sustainable development was highlighted in the 1987 Brundtland Report and at the 1992 UNCED held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (the Rio Conference). Given the increasingly urban nature of consumption and production practices in developed and developing countries, this call for action is frequently interpreted as a need to foster urban sustainable development (see Chapter 2). Considerable attention has since been given to determining what urban sustainability might include, and how it might be implemented. For example, Satterthwaite argues that in order for cities to achieve sustainable development their ‘environmental performance … has to improve not only in terms of improved environmental quality within their boundaries, but also in terms of reducing the transfer of environmental costs to other people, other ecosystems or into the future’ (Satterthwaite 1997: 1669). Such a definition suggests that addressing climate change should be a key component of urban sustainable development.

Cities, it is suggested, are a significant arena through which to address climate change for four related reasons (Angel et al. 1998; Collier 1997a; Collier and Löfstedt 1997; DeAngelo and Harvey 1998; Feldman and Wilt 1993; Harvey 1993; Lambright et al. 1996; McEvoy et al. 1999; Nijkamp and Perrels 1994; Wilbanks and Kates 1999). First, cities represent sites of high consumption of energy and production of waste. The influence of local authorities over these processes varies with national circumstances but can include: energy supply and management, transport supply and demand, land-use planning, building requirements, waste management, and offering advice to the local community. Second, local authorities have been engaging with issues of sustainable development and attempting to translate global rhetoric into local practice through Local Agenda 21 (LA21) in ways that have implications for the mitigation of climate change. Third, and following this point, it is argued that local authorities can facilitate action by others in response to climate change, both by lobbying national governments as well as by developing small-scale demonstration projects to illuminate the costs and benefits of controlling greenhouse gas emissions. Fourth, local authorities have considerable experience in addressing environmental impacts within the fields of energy management, transport and planning, and many have undertaken innovative measures and strategies to reduce their impact on climate change.

In short, local governments exercise a degree of influence over emissions of greenhouse gases in ways which impact directly on the ability of national governments to achieve internationally agreed targets. The implications of this have slowly dawned on national governments over the past decade, as strategies to address climate change are redrawn to include a significant role for local governments. For example, Climate Change: the UK programme argues that:

Local authorities have a special status as local, directly elected bodies. They are uniquely placed to provide vision and leadership to their local communities, and their wide range of responsibilities and contacts means that they are critical to the delivery of this programme. They can take forward the action needed on the ground to cut emissions, working with local communities, and will be central to efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

DETR 2000a: Chapter 7

However, local governments have not just responded to predefined policy goals set within national and international arenas, but represent an important site for the governance of global issues in their own right. First, local governments are taking action on issues related to sustainability, frequently through LA21, independently of national government. Second, transnational networks of local governments have been created as a means through which to diffuse policy programmes, exchange best practice and lobby at a national and international scale. These networks are illustrative of forms of governance which transverse the traditional hierarchy of global, regional, national and local scales. In this book, we examine the experience of six local authorities within one such network, the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) programme, run by ICLEI. Through these case-studies, we consider the role of the CCP programme in fostering local action on climate change, the problems and possibilities encountered, and the implications of our findings for understanding the governance of climate change.

An outline

Part I sets the context for our discussions of the local governance of climate change. In Chapter 2, we consider how global environmental governance has been conceptualized. We argue that international relations approaches have tended to ‘black box’ the nation-state and neglect the complex processes of governance which occur within it. The role of subnational governments in addressing climate change is therefore either ignored or taken for granted. We then consider the arguments made for a local approach to global environmental governance in the literatures on green political theory and sustainable cities. We find that in the main, although the role of subnational governments is considered in more detail, the ‘local’ is idealized and disconnected from the economic and political contexts in which it is situated. Despite their differences, in both cases the assumption is made that global environmental governance is essentially an hierarchical process, so that policies are seen as either emanating from the ‘top down’, or as being created from the ‘bottom up’. In the final part of Chapter 2, we challenge this model, and consider how transnational networks of subnational governments can be conceptualized and analysed.

Chapter 3 provides an overview of the politics of climate change at global, national and local levels. It describes the processes of international negotiation which have taken place over the past decade and the key outcomes. We then consider how climate change has been addressed in three countries – the UK, the US and Australia, from which our case-studies are drawn. In each case, we find that domestic efforts to address climate change have been shaped by larger debates about the relationship between the economy and the environment. We then review evidence to date for local initiatives to address climate change. While some local authorities have been acting independently on this issue, several transnational networks of subnational governments have been created specifically in order to address climate change. The CCP programme is one such initiative, and this chapter provides an outline of its history and rationale, before concluding by highlighting the questions we address in this book.

In Part II, we examine the impact of the CCP programme, and the problems and possibilities encountered in addressing climate change, in sixcase-studies. Chapter 4 provides an overview of the roles and responsibilities of local governments in each of the three countries from which the case-studies are drawn. While there are differences in the powers and resources available to each of the case-study local authorities, in general we find that local governments have at least some degree of autonomy. In addressing climate change, four key areas of potential action by local authorities can be identified: the supply and use of energy in the built environment; the use of energy in the transport sector; the form and design of urban areas; and the production and disposal of waste. This book considers the issues encountered in addressing emissions of greenhouse gases at the local level from the first three policy areas – energy management, transport and land-use planning.

In each case-study, we describe the evolution of local climate protection policy, and the influence of the CCP programme on this process. We then assess how climate protection has been put into practice with an analysis of the experience of each local authority in addressing climate change in specific policy sectors. In each case, we consider the national policy context in which local authorities attempt to implement climate protection policies. Three case-studies are taken from the UK. Chapter 5 assesses the role of land-use planning in Newcastle, Chapter 6 considers attempts to implement demand management policies in transport planning in Cambridgeshire, and Chapter 7 examines the evolution of energy management policies for housing and local government in Leicester. Turning to the US, Chapter 8 focuses on Denver, and the issues of in-house energy management and transport, while Chapter 9 assesses the concept of ‘new urbanism’ as a means of addressing climate change through land-use planning in Milwaukee. Chapter 10 examines how climate protection policies have been implemented in Newcastle (NSW), Australia, through in-house energy management, transport and land-use planning policies.

Part III provides a comparative analysis of the experience of addressing climate change at the local level across the case-studies, and discusses the implications for the pursuit of urban sustainability and our concepts of global environmental governance. Chapter 11 argues that the CCP programme has had the greatest impact on climate protection policy in Denver and Newcastle (NSW), moderate impact in Newcastle (UK) and Leicester, and the least impact in Cambridgeshire and Milwaukee. In this context, we examine the opportunities and constraints encountered by local authorities as they attempt to put climate protection policies into practice. Finally, we identify five key factors that shape the impact of the CCP programme on local governments and the implementation of climate protection policies:

1. the presence of a committed individual with institutional support for promoting climate protection;
2. the availability of funding for climate protection measures;
3. the level of local power over transport, energy and planning;
4. the way climate protection is framed, particularly in relation to economic objectives;
5. the political will to act.

Chapter 12 argues that the CCP programme is part of a shift towards the multilevel governance of climate change. We examine how governance takes place within the network (and especially how members are mobilized) and assess the role of the CCP programme in promoting policy learning and change among local authorities. We argue that, in the majority of case-studies, the weak connections between the network and the local authority, together with the fragmented nature of local climate change politics, has led to a limited degree of policy learning, where although the rhetoric of the need to act to protect the climate has been accepted, there is little consensus as to what this should mean in practice, and action has not been forthcoming. We also examine the relationship between the CCP programme and the state. While the network epitomizes the multilevel nature of climate change governance, it also demonstrates how this shift creates new opportunities for states to participate in governance processes. We conclude that it is only by examining climate change governance as a multilevel process that we can fully capture the social, political and economic processes that shape the way that local authorities participate in and contribute to global environmental governance.

Part I
Governing climate change

2 Global environmental governance

In this chapter, we explore the concept of global environmental governance, and the role of cities and subnational governments in addressing global environmental issues. While there are many different perspectives and interpretations of the term governance, broadly speaking we can say that it implies a focus on ‘systems of governing’, means for ‘authoritatively allocating resources and exercising control and co-ordination’ (Rhodes 1996: 653), in which the state (or government) is not necessarily the only or most important actor. For many analysts, this shift towards a governance perspective has entailed a recognition of the roles played by supranational and subnational state and non-state actors, and the complex interactions between them. Such an approach is important in the context of global environmental issues, where governance takes place through processes and institutions operating at international, transnational,¹ national and local scales.

As outlined inChapter , the focus of this book is on one example of global environmental governance, the CCP programme. In this chapter, we explore how such a network, which is simultaneously global and local, could be conceptualized. Frequently in environmental politics the distinction is made between ‘global’ processes and actors, and those which are ‘local’ in origin...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Illustrations
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• 1: Introduction
• Part I: Governing Climate Change
• Part II: Cities And Climate Protection
• Part III: Conclusions
• Appendix
• Notes
• Bibliography