Research on the carbon neutrality governance under a polycentric approach

Abstract

Carbon neutrality has increasingly become a crucial agenda within global climate governance. Meanwhile, recent observations show that the governance architecture for carbon neutrality is transforming to polycentricity. However, there is still a lack of systematic investigation on carbon neutrality governance under the polycentric approach. Against this background, this study attempts to investigate the emergence and structure of polycentric climate governance, and to figure out to what extent the evolving polycentric system can contribute to the climate change governance towards carbon neutrality. The results show that efforts made by actors at transnational and subnational levels within the polycentric system can greatly complement the deficits of carbon neutrality governance by international regime and state government in many different domains. Besides, the identified issues, that are critical to carbon neutrality including climate legislation, adaptation, technology deployment and data authenticity and transparency, can be addressed in a more effective way through the coordination among multiple actors at multiple levels. Finally, further research should be conducted to address the dynamic linkages between international regimes as well as the issues related to small and medium-sized cities, and develop a comprehensive evaluation and accounting system for the risks and benefits of polycentric climate governance.