Abstract
Many municipalities undertake actions individually and/or collectively, in cooperation with central administrations, regional authorities, the private sector, and other municipalities (both nationally and internationally). This paper aims to examine how they use transnational municipal networks (TMNs) as a tool for cooperation that supports marine governance in the context of climate change adaptation and mitigation. The analysis is carried out at two dimensions: spatial range (global or regional) and spatial identity (coastal or inland). Three case studies of TMNs are examined in detail: the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40); Connecting Delta Cities (CDC) and the Union of Baltic Cities (UBC). As research has shown, due to their organizational and normative limitations and a lack of maturity in ocean literacy, TMNs are not able to fully engage in all the activities related to climate change adaptation and mitigation as suggested by the UNEP. The TMNs implement both mitigation and adaptation measures, although ‘soft’ mitigation actions seem to be the most common. While the scale and innovativeness of a networks’ operation are determined by their specificity resulting from their spatial identity, the effectiveness of jointly developed strategies and actions depend heavily on the allocation of human resources and the level of commitment of the involved cities toward becoming leaders.
Highlights
IntroductionThese consequences – such as a temperature rise or violent weather phenomena – are deepening
Despite being coastal in its core and being more vulnerable to a rise in sea level and its associated effects, the Connecting Delta Cities (CDC) shows little interests in climate change-related actions
Transnational municipal networks are an increasingly popular form of cooperation of non-state actors, and climate change issues are increasingly common areas of their activity. This applies to networks of coastal cities. How is this potential used in relation to climate change adaptation and mitigation measures?
Summary
These consequences – such as a temperature rise or violent weather phenomena – are deepening. This means that they occur more frequently, with greater intensity and on an increasing scale (UNEP, 2019a; NASA, 2020; Pakszys et al, 2020). Cities are sensitive areas, especially coastal ones. In cities with a high population density, the adverse effects of climate change are even more compounded (Heikkinen et al, 2020). The intensification of urban heat islands, a rise in sea-levels, heavy rainfalls causing flooding, strong
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