The second urbanization wave

This report examines the potential for decoupling at the city level. While the majority of the worlds population now live in cities and cities are where most resource consumption takes place, both the pressures and potentials to find ways to reconcile economic growth, wellbeing and the sustainable use of natural resources will therefore be greatest in cities

Urban Governance and the Politics of Climate Change

Cities and urban areas are increasingly recognized as strategic arenas for climate change action. Processes of urban governance addressing climate change reconfigure the politics of climate change. Practitioners and scholars may be interested in the transformation of urban governance that follows global advances in climate change and urban policy. They may specifically be interested in how the urban governance of climate change is achieved and with what consequences for international development. This review evaluates the deep changes in urban governance that follow attempts to address climate change and how, in turn, attempts to govern climate change in urban areas reconfigure discourses informing the politics of climate change. The review shows that efforts to institutionalize climate change governance in urban areas reflect the conditions of specific contexts; that cities and sub-national entities have gained traction in international climate policy through heterogeneous forms of network governance; that governing climate change in urban areas relates to the production and deployment of new climate rationalities, or governmentalities; and that governing experiences in cities are reconfiguring discourses of climate change governance toward an increasing emphasis on experimentation as a means to deal with the open ended processes of governing urban areas

Natural Gas and Climate Finance

Should energy projects to extend the use of natural gas be considered for funding under public climate finance commitments? This article provides an overview of evidence for and against climate finance for natural gas projects. The argument focuses on a case study, the UK’s International Climate Fund (ICF). This synthesis concludes that gas-related projects will rarely be eligible for funding under public climate finance, save a few exceptions in which they provide energy access to households directly. Although gas power plants have generally lower emissions than those which use other fossil fuels such as coal, their impact will depend on the material constraints to calculate emissions reductions, the context of implementation, and the political economy of the target country. Three case studies demonstrate that energy access projects need to be understood as providing a whole range of sustainable benefits, from improving local health to reducing emissions. Overall, gas-related projects are complex interventions that require context-specific knowledge of both the effects of technology and the possible business models that can work in context

Energy Access and Urban Poverty: Energy and Everyday Life in an Informal Settlement in Maputo, Mozambique

The great majority of people without access to modern energy services are rural and, rightly, much of the discussion on energy access focuses on how to reach them. However, despite their greater geographical proximity to grid electricity and other supplies of clean energy, people living in poverty in urban areas also lack energy access. The World Bank’s own trials of the Global Tracking Framework demonstrated this for Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. We need a greater understanding of how people access energy in these contexts, and what the barriers and opportunities are for improving that access. This paper explores these questions in the context of an in-depth study of the Chamanculo C settlement in Maputo, Mozambique

Climate governance through partnerships: A study of 150 urban initiatives in China

Partnerships emerge as part of an environmental governance paradigm shift towards less hierarchical, more collaborative, and non-regulative steering arrangements. This paper examines the prevalence of partnerships in environmental governance on an urban level in a semi-authoritarian setting, by exploring climate initiatives in cities in China. The paper presents exploratory qualitative analysis of governance in urban China through analysis of a database of 150 climate initiatives in 15 cities, which are seen at the forefront of climate protection. The analysis suggests that climate partnerships are used as a governance strategy in China. Moreover, partnerships perform a range of essential governance functions, from rule-setting and provision of public infrastructure and services, to supporting technology development and low carbon demonstration projects. The results indicate that partnerships can facilitate local climate action by creating access to resources, such as information, technology, and funding, as well as contribute to introduction of emission reduction technology and new policy approaches. However, the inclusion of non-state actors in the formulation and delivery of climate mitigation projects redefines the lines of authority over public issues. This draws attention to two key governance challenges in the context of a comparatively state-controlled, top-down political system: skewed participation and lack of deliberative opportunities

A 'Minifesta' and the Promise of Collective Voice

This polyvocal paper describes the collective writing of a manifesto for urban equality by an international and interdisciplinary team of researchers who met in Kampala, Uganda, in November 2019. It explains the methodologies that inspired the process of writing, reflects on the contradictions that permeate the generation of collective voices, and discusses the relationship between collective voice and situated knowledge. In doing so, it proposes a move from grand manifestos to situated minifestas, arguing for minor literature in the generation of feminist, subaltern knowledge

Editorial: Is there a new climate politics?

Addressing climate change globally requires significant transformations of production and consumption systems. The language around climate action has shifted tangibly over the last five years to reflect this. Indeed, thousands of local governments, national governments, universities and scientists have declared a climate emergency. Some commentators argue that the emergency framing conveys a new and more appropriate level of urgency needed to respond to climate challenges; to create a social tipping point in the fight against climate change. Others are concerned to move on from such emergency rhetoric to urgent action. Beyond emergency declarations, new spaces of, and places for, engagement with climate change are emerging. The public square, the exhibition hall, the law courts, and the investors’ forum are just some of the arenas where climate change politics are now being negotiated. Emergent governing mechanisms are being utilised, from citizens’ assemblies to ecocide lawsuits. New social movements from Extinction Rebellion to Fridays For Future demonstrate heightened concern and willingness to undertake civil disobedience and protest against climate inaction. Yet questions remain which are addressed in this thematic issue: Are these discourses and spaces of engagement manifestations of a radical new climate politics? And if these are new climate politics, do they mark a shift of gear in current discourses with the potential to effect transformative climate action and support a just transition to a decarbonised world

Firm-local community relationships in polluting industrial agglomerations: How firms' commitment determines residents' perceptions

This research contributes to the literature on the management of firm–local community relationships in polluting industrial agglomerations. Taking as reference a previous quantitative study on residents' perceptions of economic benefits and risk in the vicinity of two Spanish petrochemical complexes (Castellón and Tarragona), the aim of this paper is to analyse how companies in the two areas have built and manage, individually and collectively, their relations with the local community, while assessing the extent to which a more committed management has resulted in a more favourable perception by the public. For this purpose, we conducted in-depth interviews with managers of the main companies on the two sites. The results show different patterns of behaviour by firms in the two industrial agglomerations. Companies located in the area of Tarragona, where citizens' perceptions were more favourable, have historically been more committed to building stronger socio-economic links with the local community and encouraging a sense of community, and to making greater efforts to engage local residents through a process of dialogue. Moreover, the existence of a collective strategy in Tarragona, coordinated through a local industry association, has also played an important role in facilitating the industry's relationship with the local community. The findings of the study suggest the need to consider the industrial agglomeration and the firms' collective actions in research on relationships with the local community alongside actions by individual companies