Subnational Climate Policies Research Articles

The Role of Subnational Climate Policy Initiatives in Achieving Global Climate Goals

Purpose: The main objective of this study was to investigate the role of subnational climate policy initiatives in achieving global climate goals.
 Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Findings: The findings revealed that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to the role of subnational climate policy initiatives in achieving global climate goals. Preliminary empirical review revealed that subnational climate policies have a demonstrable impact on emissions reductions and climate resilience. By adopting innovative approaches to renewable energy deployment, carbon pricing mechanisms, and climate adaptation strategies, subnational governments can serve as laboratories of experimentation, showcasing the feasibility and effectiveness of various climate solutions. These findings emphasize the importance of recognizing subnational entities as pivotal actors in climate policymaking, with the potential to catalyze broader change.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The Diffusion of Innovations theory, Multi-Level Governance theory and the Policy Innovation Diffusion theory may be used to anchor future studies achieving global climate goals. The study recommended for the strengthening of intergovernmental collaborations, sharing best practices and lessons learnt, aligning climate policies with local context, measuring and reporting progress and engaging stakeholders and civil society.

Extreme weather and climate policy

ABSTRACT What effect does extreme weather have on climate policy? Existing studies show that weather shocks have negative economic impacts and increase public awareness of climate change. These findings help identify the impacts of climate change on economic and social systems, and provide reasons for governments to adopt climate policy reforms. However, questions remain about the overall link between local extreme weather shocks and government climate policy. I investigate the effect of temperature shocks and natural disasters on a range of national, international, and subnational climate policies in samples spanning 1990–2018. I find that neither temperature shocks nor natural disasters generate climate mitigation reforms. Given that climate policy is currently insufficient to manage climate change and climate impacts are expected to increase this century, these findings suggest that future climate shocks are unlikely to catalyze meaningful climate action.

The Paris Agreement Revisited: Diplomatic Triumphalism or Denial of Climate Justice?

The 2015 Paris COP 21, after the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen COP, raised many expectations regarding the elaboration of the post-Kyoto legal instrument to lead the global fight against climate change. At the sunset of the summit, world leaders and climate negotiators, relayed by mainstream Medias, presented the results of the Paris climate discussions as an important success for the global climate community. A success contested by climate justice and just transition defenders. Given the foundation role the Paris agreement plays for subsequent global, national and sub-national climate policies on one side and, on the other side, the continuous growing global demands for climate justice and just transition, this article investigates the conciliatory possibilities put in place by the agreement to advance those demands. To reach such goals, the article focuses on the retrospective critical reading of the agreement in the light of human-centered climate perspectives such as climate justice and just transition, without neglecting other aspects related to the very nature of the agreement, and the enhanced commodification of nature and resulting carbon trading. This analysis of the agreement through climate justice lenses will be instrumental in confirming or disproving the following hypothesis: From the climate justice and just transition perspectives, the success of the Paris regime will not pass through the implementation of the Paris agreement itself, but thought corrective mechanisms that could be put in place to correct the loopholes of the agreement. The initiative of putting such post-Paris corrective mechanisms in place is expected to be one of the key priorities of the international community.

How does climate change adaptation policy in India consider gender? An analysis of 28 state action plans

ABSTRACT Gender mediates climate vulnerability and adaptation action. Consequently, climate change adaptation policy has seen a push towards ‘mainstreaming’ gender and prioritizing ‘gender-responsive’ climate action. However, it is unclear to what extent this mainstreaming advances or obscures gender considerations and whether current climate policies reflect developments in the gender and climate change literature. This paper explores how gender is operationalized in adaptation policy in India through a policy review of 28 State Action Plans on Climate Change. We juxtapose normative goals around reducing differential vulnerability with policy approaches to mainstreaming gender and propose entry points that link advances in gender and feminist studies with climate change adaptation policy. Our analysis indicates that most subnational climate policies in India explicitly mention gender as a mediator of vulnerability and adaptive capacity but operationalize it inadequately and unevenly. We also reflect on how the heuristics of mainstreaming get operationalized in policies (gender-blind, gender-sensitive, to gender-transformative approaches) and what that means for addressing gendered vulnerability. Key policy insights While explicitly mentioned, gender concerns are unevenly operationalized in India's subnational climate policy. In most State Action Plans on Climate Change in India, gaps exist between normative goals such as reducing differential vulnerability and empowering women, and policy approaches (namely gender-blind, -neutral, -specific, -sensitive, and -transformative approaches). To be effective, the conceptualization of gender must expand beyond focussing on differences between women and men to engaging more with intersections of sex, caste, class, and resources.

The impact of electricity market reform and subnational climate policy on carbon dioxide emissions across the United States: A path analysis

The United States began liberalizing its wholesale and retail electricity market to lower costs, increase efficiency, and curb oil imports in the 1990s. Reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) were a possible desirable side effect of these reforms. In recent years, concerns over climate change have prompted state governments in the United States to adopt renewable portfolio standards and other subnational climate policies. Given the United States significant contributions to a warming climate, understanding the isolated and combined effects of these deregulatory reforms and subnational policies on CO2 emissions is critically important. This article sheds light on those effects with a series of recursive generalized linear models and a heterogeneous panel analysis of 50 states in the United States from 1990 to 2014. The modelling offers a novel approach for systematically tracing the paths through which policy, energy, and pricing variables register direct, indirect and interactive effects on CO2 emissions. The results demonstrate that wholesale--but not retail--reforms lowered CO2 emissions by increasing energy efficiency and renewable use. The results also suggest that wholesale reforms interacted with subnational climate policies to reduce CO2 emissions more than either these reforms alone. These findings have far-reaching implications for the United States and beyond.

Repair Failures Call for New Policies to Tackle Leaky Natural Gas Distribution Systems.

Methane leaks in natural gas systems are low-hanging fruit for near-term, locally driven climate policy. Recent work suggests this emissions source is larger than previously believed and that repairing a small number of high emitters can cost-effectively reduce system-wide leakage. How successful are these repairs on the ground? Here, we assess the effectiveness of repair policies in the Massachusetts distribution system. Our analysis leverages state-wide utility data, on-site empirical measurements, stakeholder interviews, and document and legal analysis. We use these mixed methods to investigate the rate of repair failure, where a gas utility identifies and fixes a leak, but on-site emissions are not eliminated. We find that repair failures are relatively common, yet they are repeatedly neglected in policy. By not accounting for repair failures, policy may overestimate the effectiveness of distribution system repairs in meeting local greenhouse gas reduction targets. These results also underscore the importance of data transparency for monitoring and verifying subnational climate policies.

Incorporating blue carbon sequestration benefits into sub-national climate policies

The emissions reduction pledges made by individual countries through the 2015 Paris Agreement represent the current global commitment to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in the face of the enduring climate crisis. Natural lands carbon sequestration and storage are critical for successful pathways to global decarbonization (i.e., as a negative emissions technology). Coastal vegetated habitats maintain carbon sequestration rates exceeding forest sequestration rates on a per unit area basis by nearly two orders of magnitude. These blue carbon habitats and their associated carbon sequestration benefits are vulnerable to losses from land-use change and sea-level rise. Incorporation of blue carbon habitats in climate change policy is one strategy for both maintaining these habitats and conserving significant carbon sequestration capabilities. Previous policy assessments have found the potential for incorporation of coastal carbon sequestration in national-level policies, yet there has – to date – been little inclusion of blue carbon in the national-scale implementation of Paris commitments. Recently, sub-national jurisdictions have gained attention as models for pathways to decarbonization. However, few previous studies have examined sub-national level policy opportunities for operationalizing blue carbon into climate decision-making. California is uniquely poised to integrate benefits from blue carbon into its coastal planning and management and its suite of climate mitigation policies. Here, we evaluated legal authorities and policy contexts addressing sequestration specifically from blue carbon habitats. We synthesized the progressive action in California’s approaches to mitigate carbon emissions including statutory, regulatory, and non-regulatory opportunities to incorporate blue carbon ecosystem service information into state- and local-level management decisions. To illustrate how actionable blue carbon information can be produced for use in decision-making, we conducted a spatial analysis of blue carbon sequestration in several locations in California across multiple agencies and management contexts. We found that the average market values of carbon sequestration services in 2100 ranged from $7,730 to $44,000 per hectare and that the social cost of carbon sequestration value was 1.3 to 2.7 times the market value. We also demonstrated that restoration of small areas with high sequestration rates can be comparable to the sequestration of existing marshes. Our results illustrate how accessible information about carbon sequestration in coastal habitats can be directly incorporated into existing policy frameworks at the sub-national scale. The incorporation of blue carbon sequestration benefits into sub-national climate policies can serve as a model for the development of future policy approaches for negative emissions technologies, with consequences for the success of the Paris Agreement and science-based decarbonization by mid-century.

Community-based climate action planning as an act of advocacy: a case study of liberal arts education in a rural community

The current lack of comprehensive federal climate policy highlights the critical need for effective subnational climate policy and programs. We describe our efforts to create and cultivate a community-based multi-stakeholder group centered around local climate change planning and advocacy in a small, rural New York municipality. The literature on sustainability planning emphasizes the importance of collaborative work to build new capacities, develop knowledge, and create community commitment over the long term to advocate for municipal policies that prioritize climate change mitigation and resilience. However, case studies of rural community contexts are lacking in the literature, and rural communities may not have the planning and other resources found in the municipal offices of larger, urban communities. We argue that higher education institutions, especially those situated in small rural communities, have a vital role in supporting the climate strategies of local actors and can develop productive partnerships through research and co-curricular education. We discuss several challenges to effective campus-community partnerships, including the need to balance student engagement in community-based research with the traditional liberal arts model of education, engaging and sustaining the participation of community partners, and differential access to resources in rural spaces.

Repair Failures Call for New Policies to Tackle Leaky Natural Gas Distribution Systems

Methane leaks in natural gas systems are low-hanging fruit for near-term, locally driven climate policy. Recent work suggests this emissions source is larger than previously believed and that repairing a small number of high emitters can cost-effectively reduce system-wide leakage. How successful are these repairs on the ground? Here, we assess the effectiveness of repair policies in the Massachusetts distribution system. Our analysis leverages state-wide utility data, on-site empirical measurements, stakeholder interviews, and document and legal analysis. We use these mixed methods to investigate the rate of repair failure, where a gas utility identifies and fixes a leak, but on-site emissions are not eliminated. We find that repair failures are relatively common, yet they are repeatedly neglected in policy. By not accounting for repair failures, policy may overestimate the effectiveness of distribution system repairs in meeting local greenhouse gas reduction targets. These results also underscore the importance of data transparency for monitoring and verifying subnational climate policies.

Self-reinforcing and self-undermining feedbacks in subnational climate policy implementation

ABSTRACT This study demonstrates how interpretive feedback functions as an intervening mechanism during policy implementation that helps explain variation in subnational climate policy entrenchment. We examine three interrelated climate policy processes in Ontario, Canada from 2001–2018: a coal phase-out (2001–2014), the feed-in-tarriff (FIT) program for renewable energy (2006–2013) and a cap-and-trade program (2008–2018). Successful framing of the coal phase-out in terms of gains for both public health and climate change helped generate a broad-based coalition of support during implementation. Conversely, we find that the FIT and the cap-and-trade programs were vulnerable to framing around losses, especially regarding electricity rates and household costs, which counter-coalitions used to weaken public support during implementation. Our analysis demonstrates that building supportive coalitions for climate policy goes beyond the material gains and losses generated by initial policy designs. Framing strategies interact with policy designs over time to support or undermine policy durability.

Research priorities for supporting subnational climate policies

AbstractGrowing momentum for decentralized climate policy and the falling costs of low‐carbon technologies are creating new climate change mitigation opportunities for subnational actors. Here we discuss how research can best support these subnational efforts to allow limited resources to stretch further. To stimulate this discussion, we identify four research priorities. (1) Innovation mechanisms examines local policy opportunities for technology improvement to achieve high returns on investments. (2) Co‐benefits analyzes the non‐climate benefits of emissions reductions to highlight how local policies can affect communities directly. (3) Emissions monitoring develops rapid, low‐cost, local measurement strategies to allow communities to assess and weigh in on the emissions impacts of local energy systems. (4) Decision levers reframes large‐scale analyses into more targeted and actionable metrics for local policy decisions. This piece was informed and inspired by a set of interviews we conducted with representatives in business, government, NGOs, and educational institutions actively engaged in local climate action, and by our own research.This article is categorized under: The Carbon Economy and Climate Mitigation > Policies, Instruments, Lifestyles, Behavior Policy and Governance > Private Governance of Climate Change

Subnational Climate Policies: a proposal for monitoring in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Monitoring and evaluation of climate policies promote transparency and enable public engagement. Covering the period 2011 to 2017, this essay presents a qualitative analysis of the Policy on Adaptation to Climate Change adopted by the state of Rio Grande do Sul, as contribution to the debate about subnational adaptation policies. We use the set of tools developed by the Open Climate Network, which differs from the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions by the territory to assess the progress made in the implementation of the adaptation policies through public governance. While adoption by the state government started 2010, we conclude that this subnational adaptation policy still is in the stage of validation against the emission reduction targets proposed by the Paris Agreement, until 2025. Several adaptation policies are under way in Rio Grande do Sul, however, in a (still) fragmented mode. We identified gaps in the state budget, as well as governance constrains for the next step of implementation.

Global climate adaptation governance in the Amazon through a polycentricity lens

The 2015 Paris agreement has made adaptation to climate change a global goal and increased the polycentricity of the governance landscape. This study uses insights from polycentric governance theory to analyze the emergence of adaptation governance (AG) in Brazil and its implications for the state of Acre, situated in the Amazon region. By using a qualitative data analysis, including subnational climate policies and semi-structured interviews, we aim to analyze the advantages and challenges of polycentric AG in Acre and provide recommendations for improved AG in the region.

In the Corporate Interest: Fossil Fuel Industry Input into Alberta and British Columbia’s Climate Leadership Plans

Background This article examines the narrative strategies used by fossil fuel industries in responding to and shaping Alberta and BC’s climate leadership plans. Analysis This article makes inferences about fossil fuel industry influence by examining submissions of industry players to both regions’ public consultation processes. Conclusions and implications Key themes include: a need to take a leadership stance, a balance between environmental protection and economic growth, an appeal to protect industry competitiveness, and an emphasis on demand-side policies. These themes align with a policy discourse of weak ecological modernization and are central to advisory panel recommendations and subsequent subnational climate policies that facilitate market expansion and increased oil and gas production at a time when strong greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation efforts are urgently required.

A National Overview of Climate Change Education Policy: Policy Coherence between Subnational Climate and Education Policies in Canada (K-12)

This article analyses the depth of engagement with climate change education policy across all 13 provinces and territories in Canada. A comparative content analysis of 13 climate action plans (CAP) and 90 K-12 education policy documents shows a major gap existing between Canada’s climate and education policies. While subnational climate policy calls for education to contribute substantially to addressing climate change, education policy is not aligned towards this call. Three themes emerged within the overview of the provinces and territories: shallow engagement with climate change within education policies; the predominance of energy efficiency upgrades for schools as a foremost education sector objective; and policy gaps that show a lack of attention to many areas of climate education. Further detailing the climate change education objectives in four provinces identified as playing a leadership role in climate policy, this research suggests that even among these climate leaders, K-12 education policy minimally attends to climate change. Alignment between Canadian and international trends in climate change education is also assessed.

Subnational climate entrepreneurship: innovative climate action in California and S\xe3o Paulo

The distinct role of subnational governments such as states and provinces in addressing climate change has been increasingly acknowledged. But while most studies investigate the causes and consequences of particular governments’ actions and networking activities, this article argues that subnational governments can develop climate action as a collective entrepreneurial activity. Addressing many elements explored in this special issue, it focuses on the second question and identifies climate entrepreneurship in two subnational governments—the states of California (USA) and São Paulo (Brazil). Examining internal action, as well as interaction with local authorities, national governments and the international regime, entrepreneurial activities are identified in the invention, diffusion and evaluation of subnational climate policy in each case. The article draws from the recent scholarship on policy innovation, entrepreneurship and climate governance. It contributes to the literature by exploring entrepreneurial subnational government activity in addressing climate change and expanding the understanding of the effects of policy innovation at the subnational level.

Governing Climate Change Risks: Subnational Climate Policies in Brazil

Subnational governments play a key role producing responses to climate change risks involving policy strategies and instruments. This article analyzes how Brazilian municipal and state governments have developed and implemented climate change mitigation and adaptation public policies. We surveyed all cities’ and states’ climate policies within the country. The methodological approach includes five main points of analysis: (1) mitigation targets and intentions; (2) adaptation actions; (3) stakeholders’ participation; (4) policy implementation; (5) participation in climate change transnational networks. Our results showed that even though subnational climate policies are isolated initiatives in the country, they are relevant initiatives to respond to climate change risks in different scales and levels. The solidest subnational policies emerged where there were previous institutional arrangements related to climate change including the participation of several stakeholders. Such governments have also joined transnational climate change cooperation networks.

Civil Society in an Age of Environmental Accountability: How Local Environmental Nongovernmental Organizations Reduce U.S. Power Plants’ Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Institutional scholars have argued that in the absence of legislation on the issue of climate change, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) can help reduce the amount of anthropogenic greenhouse gases being emitted to the environment by disseminating environmental norms. Consistent with this reasoning, they have shown that from the middle of the last century up through the mid‐1990s, nations with more memberships inNGOs have tended to have lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the aggregate. Doubts remain, however, about whetherNGOs have reduced emissions in the time since and at the level of individual power plants where the lion's share of carbon pollution is emitted. Using plant‐specific information onCO2emissions recently collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, we investigate the effects of local environmentalNGOs (ENGOs) on plants’ environmental performance. Consistent with our expectations, we find that localENGOs not only directly reduce plants’ emissions but indirectly do so by enhancing the effectiveness of subnational climate policies that encourage energy efficiency. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on the decoupling of normative systems, social movements, environmental sociology, and theEPA's proposed Clean Power Plan.

Innovating in sub-national climate policy: the mandatory emissions reduction scheme in Tokyo

This study analyses the drivers behind the policy-making and implementation of the recently developed climate policies in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG). In 2010, the TMG introduced a mandatory CO2 emission reduction and a cap-and-trade scheme; the world's first such scheme that sets binding targets for buildings. The research was carried out through reviews of the published and unpublished literature, surveys and face-to-face interviews with various stakeholders involved in the policy process. The essential components that enabled successful policy-making and implementation of the scheme in Tokyo are revealed, such as the administrative leadership and the capacity of the TMG administration, the availability of historical data supporting the policy discussions and the gradual and flexible implementation mechanisms. The article concludes with recommendations for future improvements in the TMG and beyond.Policy relevanceThis article presents the lessons from the recent advancements in climate policy in Tokyo, particularly the world's first mandatory city-scale emission reduction and cap-and-trade scheme that includes buildings. The scheme was relatively effective as the total GHG emissions were reduced by 23% on average from the base years and 10% below the average of other parts of the country before the end of the first compliance period of five years (2010–2014). The policy innovations from the world's largest city and the capital of Japan can inform sub-national governments about the potential barriers and opportunities for introducing mandatory GHG emissions reductions.

The Limits of Administrative Law as Regulatory Oversight in Linked Carbon Markets

Many commentators have celebrated the link between carbonmarkets in California and Quebec as an example of effective coordination of sub-national climate policy instruments. Here, Iargue that this enthusiasm is misplaced. California recentlyamended its carbon market regulations to enable significantleakage of emissions to neighboring states. These reforms reducethe environmental effectiveness of the market, contradict clearstatutory guidelines, and dilute the integrity of the state’s compliance instruments. Moreover, the reforms took place in an administrative process that never recognized the leakage implications, raising questions as to whether California alerted itsCanadian counterparts of the consequences of its internal reforms.I review this transition from three perspectives: the relevantadministrative proceedings in California, the mutual obligationsboth governments accepted under a bilateral agreement,and the standards California law imposes on prospective linkedmarkets. Each perspective reveals major shortcomings. Ratherthan demonstrating a successful model for harmonizing carbonmarket systems across different legal jurisdictions, the link between California and Quebec exemplifies a major institutionalweakness: in a linked carbon market, participating governmentsmust continuously monitor the administrative processes of eachjurisdiction in order to maintain market integrity. But as theCalifornia experience demonstrates, administrative law may notbe up to the task of ensuring that practical market operation follows the rule of law.