Transnational arrangements and municipal participation in climate change governance

• Ano de defesa: 2021
• Autor(a) principal: Fontenelle-Weber, Alexandre
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Instituição de defesa: Biblioteca Digitais de Teses e Dissertações da USP
• Palavras-chave em Português: Governança global; Governo municipal; Mudança climática; Paradiplomacia; Política ambiental > São Paulo (SP); Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
• Link de acesso: https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/2/2135/tde-05102022-093732/

The present dissertation intends to situate the participation of city governments in climate change governance and to describe in what manner the supranational insertion of municipalities can affect the development of climate policy at the local level, from the perspective of case studies conducted in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. As a starting point, it is adopted a conception of climate change governance as being composed by two distinct types of arrangements: (i) regimes created by nation States; and (ii) transnational arrangements, set up by non-traditional actors. This ample perspective reveals that non-traditional actors, private or public, act authoritatively and can exert normative influence in the development of transnational arrangements and in complementary efforts to the interstate dynamic. In this scenario, city governments are described as a specific type of transnational actor, due to their nature as public authorities at the local level, with urban regulation competences. It is identified that the international participation of cities takes place via the constitution of transnational networks, that establish norms and standards for municipal activity, consolidating a specific urban approach to climate action. It is also revealed that transnational municipal networks have historically privileged the perspective of actors from the Global North and have adopted a neoliberal bias, highlighted by the focus on technical expertise, market-based solutions and public-private partnerships. Via their participation in transnational networks, municipal governments have also exerted a \"collective authority\" in international climate forums, especially in the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In the case studies regarding the experience of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, transnational networks have been identified as central actors for the insertion of the climate agenda at the local level. São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have cultivated a relationship with transnational networks, in particular ICLEI and C40, since the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the interaction with them has been instrumental for the development of emission inventories and climate legislation and for the current project of establishment of climate action plans. In this regard, municipal climate policy has evolved independently from the federal government, that so far has not made any significant attempt at control or coordination. In addition, there has been a gradual process of intersectoral dissemination of the topic of climate change inside the structure of the city governments, along with the inclusion of climate specific directives in municipal planning instruments. Nevertheless, in both cases, the implementation of climate policies up to this moment has been limited, due to discontinuation in city leadership, restricted municipal competences, resistance by local economic actors and lack of popular and civil society participation. More than that, there is uncertainty regarding future development, in light of a significant delay in the publication of the climate action plans.