Introduction
Jaccard (2016) claims āthe thing about effective climate policy is that it is never a political winnerā. This simple statement summarises a complex situation. In the policy literature, a successful policy is described as one that achieves the policy-makerās objectives. McConnell (2010) regards policy success as the condition when a policy āachieves the goals that proponents set out to achieve and attracts no criticism of any significance and/or support is virtually universalā (p. 351). The health policy that reduces the incidence of smoking in young people, the traffic management policy that reduces congestionāthese are common examples. One could argue that climate mitigation policies are effective if they reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in accordance with the targets set by governments. Adaptation policies are successful and effective if they protect areas vulnerable to extreme weather events. On a broader, more complex level, climate policies are effective if they change damaging unsustainable practices into safe sustainable ones. Effective policies show demonstrable results, and policy-makers can provide the details on how the policy has worked and how it achieved the governmentās intentions. There is accountability and transparency in a democratic political system, where policy-makers demonstrate the effectiveness of their policies in ways that are clear and understandable to citizens. The policy literature also stresses that public policy is not always straightforward. The reality of public policy success is far more nuanced and frustratingly less observable; in fact, policy is a ācomplex phenomenon consisting of numerous decisions and made by numerous individuals and organisationsā (Howlett et al. 2009, 7). On this basis alone, it may be more difficult to identify reasons why policies are effective. What is clear from the literature is that public policy requires ongoing study and analysis in the hope that we can continue to do it better (Wheelan 2011).
The second part of Jaccardās statement hints at factors that may prevent climate policy from being effective. Policies may be regarded as a failure when they do not achieve the goals the proponents set out to achieve and no longer receive support from them (McConnell 2010). The experiences of governments developing and implementing climate policy have been fraught with challenges that prevent success, so much so that it is regarded as the āpreeminent policy challenge of our timeā (Bransetter and Pizer 2012, 3). The policy implementation literature explains that policy-makers often do not foresee many of the barriers that will prevent their policies from being successful and effective (Sabatier and Mazmanian 1979). The challenges highlight the complexity of public policy and the need for an in-depth understanding of the factors involved in determining success or failure. Sometimes, barriers are institutional; for example, another level of government can override the policy, effectively ruling out any chance of success. In some cases, a government has not done the relevant research to show what factors will impact on the implementation process or how their policy decisions will effectively deal with the issues they are targeting. In other instances, those with the task of implementing the policy have their own biases that can effectively sabotage the policy. Implementation of the policy can also be thwarted by resistance in the community and from pressure groups, particularly those who are negatively impacted by the policy. These challenges continue to impact on both the development and the implementation of climate policy by all levels of government. Since the 1990s, many city governments have been attempting to improve the effectiveness of their policy action through the application of performance-based approaches. These approaches focus on measuring their actions in the context of policy objectives and producing public reports that outline their effectiveness. The idea being that measurement and reporting will help to identify the problems and challenges for policy effectiveness and provide the necessary evidence for improvements to future action.
Performance management approaches that require the tracking and measurement of strategic goals, targets , and achievements are seen as the most widespread governmental reform in recent decades (Moynihan and Pandey 2010). Performance management holds the potential to improve the effectiveness of climate policy because it promises to enable governments to quantify promises, and measure and report the results of their actions in ways that allow citizens, managers, and politicians to make meaningful decisions about increasingly complex government activities (OECD 2009). Embedded within performance management is the assumption that measurement and reporting will also drive improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of government organisations (Dubnick 2005). A key assumption is that performance data can be used to better allocate resources, make decisions about strategy, re-engineer processes, motivate workers, and usher in a new era of accountability (Moynihan 2009). The promise is that measurementāthe quantitative representation of the quality or quantity of inputs, outputs, and/or outcomes (Sterck and Scheers 2006)ācan offer valuable data for policy-makers by assisting with comparison, prediction, and evaluation. Importantly for policy-makers, there appears to be a link between performance reporting and trust . If citizens find performance information from government agencies to be credible, they are more likely to believe what is being reported (James and Van Ryzin 2017). This acceptance is critical for climate change policy, as performance information should ideally contribute to the changes necessary to improve policy action by city governments towards more effective environmental, economic, and political sustainability.
The objective of this book is to establish an analytical framework to examine the application of performance management by city governments in the context of their policy response to climate change. This examination will lead to conclusions that can provide guidance for other cities seeking to implement successful and effective policies when responding to climate change. The promise of performance management and its contribution to improving the effectiveness of climate policy is a serious issue that warrants investigation. City governments have been making commitments to respond to climate change, with many arguing that they can demonstrate the success of their efforts. There have, however, been questions raised in the policy literature about the seriousness with which city governments have been willing to measure and report on the results of their policy action. Current assessments suggest that the extent to which city governments engage with performance management has been mixed and uneven (Ammons and Roenigk 2015). The analytical framework will be used to examine cases of city governments committed to performance management systems when measuring the effectiveness of their response. A case study approach provides valuable information for both researchers and policy practitioners , as it is an in-depth consideration of context, different perspectives, and the evaluation of various factors that help explain diversity (Rhodes et al. 2012). The case studies will progress the study of performance measurement and management through these factors and attempt to determine how they influence results (van Thiel and Leeuw 2002; Spekle and Verbeeten 2014). The book is therefore a grounded exploration of city governments and their application of performance to improve the effectiveness of their climate policies. The analytical framework goes beyond current approaches to the examination of performance by city governments responding to climate change. The framework will be used as the guiding instrument for the case studies of city governments and will focus on the dimensions of performance management that include clarity of climate goals, climate targets and related measurement systems, the extent to which performance is embedded within their management and governance processes, and how performance information is used to report progress and encourage management and policy change . This introductory chapter will begin by briefly discussing the contextual issues linking climate policy and performance management that will be covered in greater depth throughout the remainder of the book.
Context
In December 2016, the Financial Times reported that over 7000 cities and towns from 119 countries had signed up to join forces to fight climate change. These cities have agreed to work on policy initiatives to reduce GHG emissions and to make cities more resilient to the potential impact of global warming (Crooks 2016). Their agreement is based on assumptions that city governments need to take action because national governments have failed to respond in an effective manner. According to city governments, the leaders of national governments have been failing to understand that their citizens want more effective responses to climate change (ICLEI 2009). City leaders argue that public support is driving the issue, and that without effective action, citizens are concerned about the long-term impact of climate change (Lit...