Cities and climate change mitigation law from a polycentric and comparative perspective

Abstract

Cities are an increasingly visible actor in global climate governance. Within and also beyond their legal scope of competence, they have the potential to significantly contribute to climate change mitigation efforts. In this chapter we scrutinize cities' scope of action from an international and a comparative legal perspective. We find that international cities are progressively integrated into the inter- and transnational architecture of climate governance. In our comparative analysis of urban climate governance in S√£o Paulo, Hamburg, and Cape Town and its embeddedness in national legal frameworks we show that cities have a meaningful scope of action and instrumental 'tool box' to address climate change in the different jurisdictions. The case studies highlight a broad range of mitigation efforts but also several challenges. We argue that future development of climate change mitigation law and policy at all levels should strengthen cities' efforts in the low carbon transformation in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.