Download Do cities have the institutional capacity to address climate change?

Do Cities Have the Institutional Capacity to Address
Climate Change?
Patricia Romero-Lankao
April 17, 2015
URBAN FUTURES
***********
www.ral.ucar.edu/csap/themes/urbanfutures
Patricia Romero-Lankao and Joshua Sperling (NCAR),
Natalia Brutto, Jorgelina Hardoy (Argentina), Kate Auty (Australia), Manyu Chang, Rafael D’Almeida Martins
(Brazil), Sarah Burch, Sara Hughes, Alex Aylett (Canada), Roxana Borquez (Chile), Anja Wejs (Denmark),
Kerstin Krellenberg (Germany), Ryoko Nakano (Japan), Gina Ziervogel (South Africa), David Simon (UK)
Outline
• Why institutional capacity
• Our framework
• Scope of urban responses
• Findings
Why institutional capacity?
• Climate science is
important
• But not sufficient
• Social science’s
analysis of decision
making is also key
Gap between policy discourse and what can be
accomplished on the ground
 Can cities address underlying
drivers of GHG emissions,
vulnerability and risk?
Eugenia Mortonhttp://www.thedenverchannel.com/
ADAPTE project
 Who are the actors involved
and what are these responses?
 What are the attributes and
determinants of institutional
capacity?
Response any action to manage climate
& environmental change, in anticipation
or after it has happened.
Climate change governance is a set of
• formal and informal rules
• rule-making systems
• actor-networks at all levels
• to steer cities towards mitigating and
adapting to climate change
Actor government, private, NGOs, experts
(e.g., scientists), and the media.
Institutional response capacity the pool
of resources actors can use to manage
climate change, while attending to other
development needs.
Romero-Lankao et al., (2013).
Institutional capacity, a framework
Context
Actor
Actor
Issue of
Concern
Information
Response
Urban
Development
Pathways
Networks
Capacity
Participation
Response
Laws, Rules
Scope of urban climate change responses
Relative location along the y-axis is not significant
Source: Romero-Lankao et al., in review)
Coordination across levels and sectors
of governance has been crucial as it
• Reduces transaction costs
• Facilitates communication
• Enhances access to and
learning from resources
 Climate knowledge,
technologies, best practices
Rotterdam & Ho Chi Minh
Rotterdam & Ho Chi Minh Adaptation Partnership
Other institutional determinants of the gap
First, leadership, political will, and differentiated
access to resources
Enablers of Climate Change Response in 350 cities
Source Aylett (2014)
Second: path-dependencies following from
Large investments in carbon intensive
infrastructure/growth in risk-prone areas
Economically entrenched
fossil-fuel and risky technologies
Beijing 2014, Romero-Lankao
Political reluctance to regulate
lifestyles and behavior
www.denverpost.com
Third, laws and rules
• Can facilitate urban
responses
• Mediate relationships
between gov. and non gov.
actors
• Define participation
mechanisms
September 2013 Flood
Boulder city utility staff
aware of the need to
upgrade the sewage
drainage system
Prohibitively high cost &
fear of potential litigation,
led to either inaction or
minimal action
This increased city-wide
vulnerability to the floods
Fourth, information
Sources of Information and Guidance for Climate
Planning in 350 cities. Source Aylett (2014).
Narrowing information usability gap
• Scientific information
necessary but insufficient to
trigger responses
• Gap between production of
science & the production of
policy
• Responses are often based
on
– Values
– Clout of powerful interests
– Habit
Models of Science-Policy Interaction
Source: Dilling and Lemos, 2011)
Concluding Remarks
• Urban climate responses: a
pressing issue
• With some exceptions,
responses tend to be
incremental & fragmented
• No size fits all, but
– Longer time planning
– Coordination and
participation
– Adaptable arrangements are
key for effective responses
• Leadership and scientific
information are key but not
enough
• Other institutional factors
– Interplay between actors with
their values, power, interests
– Differentiated access to
•
•
•
•
Mandates
Resources
Decision making
Information
Agra PIRE Summer Training, July 2013
Beijing PIRE Summer Training, July 2014
Latino Children, Dec 2012
Thank you!
Patricia Romero-Lankao and Joshua Sperling (NCAR),
Natalia Brutto, Jorgelina Hardoy (Argentina), Kate Auty (Australia), Manyu Chang, Rafael D’Almeida Martins (Brazil),
Sarah Burch, Sara Hughes, Alex Aylett (Canada), Roxana Borquez (Chile), Anja Wejs (Denmark), Kerstin Krellenberg
(Germany), Ryoko Nakano (Japan), Gina Ziervogel (South Africa), David Simon (UK)