Formulating and implementing climate change laws and policies in the Philippines,Mexico (Chiapas), and South Africa: a local government perspective

Faced with the prospects of a changing climate, a small but increasing number of countries are developing legal and regulatory frameworks that explicitly address climate change. Moreover at least some of these laws and policies carve out substantial roles for local governments. The present paper surveys three countries from different regions in the Global South that have developed or are developing such laws and policies: the Philippines (Asia-Pacific), Mexico and more specifically its State of Chiapas (Latin America), and South Africa (Africa). It examines those experiences through two different lenses. The paper first reviews the steps by which those laws or policies were developed. For this review, criteria for effective consultative processes are proposed. The study then examines the three climate change laws or policies per se. To this end, a framework including four modes of multi-level urban climate governance (governing by regulation, governing through enabling, governing by provision, governing with representation and consultation) is utilised. The paper ends with synthetic conclusions as to which experiences represent promising practices, and what other lessons are relevant for countries embarking on such processes.     

From disaster management to adaptive governance? Governance challenges to achieving resilient food systems in Australia

Building resilient food systems in the context of climate change and increased natural disasters depends on governance being more ‘adaptive’. Through a case study of events surrounding the extensive flooding that occurred in Queensland, Australia, in 2011, this paper examines how governance settings and processes affected food system actors’ engagement with three aspects of adaptive governance – responsibility, participation and collaboration – as those actors sought to ensure food availability and access during the crisis. We found that, despite the existence of formal governance instruments committed to disaster management, food security and resilience at local, state and national levels, responsibilities for ensuring food supply during a disaster were not clearly articulated. Responsibility was largely assumed by supermarkets, who in turn increased the influence of retailer–government coalitions. The participation of non-supermarket food system actors in governance was low, and there was limited collaboration between local, and other, levels of governance. The policy challenge is to ensure that responsibility, participation and collaboration become a stronger foci for adaptive governance during and after a disaster such as flooding.     

Food Security: One of a Number of ‘Securities’ We Need for a Full Life: An Australian Perspective

Although agriculture in Australia is very productive, the current food supply systems in Australia fail to deliver healthy diets to all Australians and fail to protect the natural resources on which they depend. The operation of the food systems creates ‘collateral damage’ to the natural environment including biodiversity loss. In coming decades, Australia’s food supply systems will be increasingly challenged by resource price inflation and climate change. Australia exports more than half of its current agricultural production. Government and business are aiming to substantially increase production to bolster exports. This will increase pressure on agricultural resources and exacerbate ‘collateral’ damage to the environment. The Australian public have a deep and ongoing interest in a very wide range of issues associated with the food systems including the environment, health and sustainability. Food is something we require in order to live and a good diet is something we have to have to be healthy. For health over a life-time we need food security. However, we also require a range of other material goods and social arrangements in order to develop and flourish as human beings. And we need these other things to be secure over a life-time. Food is therefore one security among a range of other securities we need in order to flourish. The paper outlines a number of approaches, as examples, that help to identify what these other goods and arrangements might be. The approaches mentioned in this paper include human rights, national securities, human needs, authentic happiness, capabilities, sustainability and environmental ethics. The different approaches provide a way of evaluating the current situation and indicating a direction for change within the food systems that will address the problems. However, changing large systems such as those involved in food supply is difficult because inertias and vested interests make the current food supply systems resilient to change. The paper suggests that one of the first and ongoing tasks is to develop an understanding of the situation from a comprehensive social–ecological systems perspective. The paper also suggests that a practical leverage point for system change is restructuring the flow of information on the health, natural resources and biodiversity loss issues related to the food supply systems.     

Faith-based climate action in Christian congregations: mobilisation and spiritual resources

This article seeks to explain how and why church congregations mobilise on environmental issues and what – if anything – is distinctive about that mobilisation. Building on and adapting Resource Mobilisation Theory (RMT), we develop the idea of “spiritual resources” to help explain how a collection of spiritual identities, values, symbols and narratives can facilitate distinctive collective action on environmental issues. Our analysis draws on data derived from an in-depth case study of climate active groups in Scotland. It includes content analysis of websites, news stories as well as ethnographic observation of selected church and secular groups engaged in climate activity. We find church groups do enjoy a distinct set of resources – comprising tradition, rituals and symbols shaped by theology and doctrine – which are not wholly captured by other explanations of climate mobilisation. While these spiritual resources do not directly translate into specific environmental or climate action they can, especially when combined with other resources, lead to environmental activities distinctly motivated, and distinctly practised at the individual and community level.     

Taming the Unruly Side of Ethics: Overcoming Challenges of a Bottom-Up Approach to Ethics in the Areas of Food Policy and Climate Change

Here, I investigate the challenges involved in addressing ethical questions related to food policy, food security, and climate change in a public engagement atmosphere where “experts” (e.g., scientists and scholars), policy-makers and laypersons interact. My focus is on the intersection between food and climate in the state of Alaska, located in the circumpolar north. The intersection of food security and climate represents a “wicked problem.” This wicked problem is plagued by “unruliness,” characterized by disruptive mechanisms that can impede how ethical issues in policy-making are broached. Unruliness is exacerbated by conditions of engagement that can be characterized as occurring in a “fog.” In this fog, interlocutors encounter both moral and epistemological conundrums. In considering how to mitigate unruliness, a bottom-up approach is recommended. I discuss “taming” strategies for addressing these ethical concerns; modest suggestions on what should be taken into count when confronting issues of science and ethics within the context of promoting greater deliberative discourse regarding food security issues at more local levels. My recommendations are made in light of developments in food policy in Alaska and may be instructive for other regions pursuing cold climate agricultural expansion, for example.     

“We can keep the fire burning”: building action competence through environmental justice education in Uganda and Germany

The global dimensions of climate change necessitate a response that takes national differences – social, economic, geographic, and cultural – into account. Action-oriented education has a key role to play in advancing citizen engagement in a culture of sustainability. This paper describes research conducted with one such education programme, Youth Leading Environmental Change (YLEC), which operates in six countries and engages university-aged youth in discussion and practice related to global sustainability, systems thinking, and environmental justice. YLEC aims to advance four key competencies; this paper focuses on the goal of action competence, which involves acquiring knowledge, reflecting on experience in the context of one’s values, envisioning alternative futures, and acting individually and collectively to advance those alternatives. The present article examines the impacts of YLEC on environmental action competence in two of the countries involved in this research: Uganda and Germany. In-depth interviews were conducted with participants in both countries to examine the development of action competence during and after the programme. Findings suggest that outcomes differed in each country, reflective of participants’ different lived experiences. YLEC effectively built on the conditions faced in each country to accompany youth to a higher level of awareness and action. These findings have implications for environmental education programmes striving to work with multiple nations and diverse participants.     

Climate change and indigenous natural resource management: a review of socio-ecological interactions in the Alinytjara Wilurara NRM region

This article examines key socio-ecological interactions identified during a climate change vulnerability assessment in the Alinytjara Wilurara natural resources management (NRM) region of South Australia. The complex local socio-ecological interactions are highlighted to guide a response to the challenge of adapting to climate change within the region. Recognising several key desert drivers which perpetuate degraded socio-ecological systems, this article recommends that a range of strategies be employed simultaneously to enhance local environmental management in association with remote indigenous communities, including: linking people and NRM more closely; tracking funding but ensuring systems can withstand periods of limited financial support; developing cross-sectoral and cross-institutional links; empowering and engaging communities; communicating effectively; and actively supporting local and traditional environmental knowledge. Unless climate change adaptation responses within the region are conceptualised and enacted within the context of complex local socio-ecological systems, NRM will not improve and social vulnerability will increase.     

Leveraging the power of learning to overcome negotiation deadlocks in global climate governance and low carbon transitions

ABSTRACT

Learning among actors within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations helped transferring climate policies across countries and changed negotiation positions. Together with group pressure and leadership by key governments and non-national actors, experience, knowledge and belief-based learning types altered the UNFCCC negotiation dynamics and facilitated the Paris Agreement. Governments, the UNFCCC secretariat and NGOs created opportunities for government representatives to explore policy options and learn from each other’ successes of designing and implementing low carbon policies. These experience exchanges during and beyond the UNFCCC meetings were established to help countries share their experiences with low carbon economic development plans to address climate change while decoupling economic growth. Based on elite interviews, participant observation and document analysis, this contribution examines how learning facilitated breakthroughs in international climate negotiations. It finds that structured experience exchange of and reflection on other countries’ and non-national actors’ successful policy experiences can modify national interests as policymakers increasingly understand that climate action can support economic growth. This resulted in a higher willingness to take on more ambitious climate action commitments. Sharing experiences with climate policies can facilitate other actor’s learning how they can adapt successful policies to their specific framework conditions.     

Barriers and guidelines for public policies on climate change adaptation: A missed opportunity of scientific knowledge‐brokerage

Progress in formulating and implementing effective adaptation policies is often hampered by a wide variety of barriers that are well documented in the literature. Among the barriers are lack of awareness, certainty, resources and political commitment. Since these and other barriers can be overcome (e.g., by raising awareness, closing knowledge gaps, and increasing resources), numerous decision‐support frameworks (mainly written guidelines) have been developed for this purpose. The present paper takes stock of both the barriers in adaptation policymaking, as documented in the literature, and the guidelines that aim to facilitate public policies on climate change adaptation. It then compares to what degree selected adaptation guidelines serve as knowledge‐brokerage tools that provide guidance on how to overcome the barriers addressed in the scientific literature. The comparison shows that adaptation guidelines address barriers of adaptation policymaking neither comprehensively nor systematically. Since most adaptation guidelines focus on (subjective) experiences with good practices than on empirical research findings, we conclude that they represent a missed opportunity of scientific knowledge‐brokerage in climate change adaptation.     

More than something to hold the plants up: soil as a non-human ally in the struggle for food justice

Healthy, fertile soil is the material of life itself. It is chemically, biologically and physically structured to support the growth of healthy, environmentally sustainable foods. Recent years have seen a resurgent focus on soil science in Australia. Yet, the influence of soil in the politics of food systems has received comparatively little attention, despite long awareness in farming communities of how the natural world shapes farmers’ choices and possible actions. Drawing on work with SoilCare, a Landcare group with a focus on soil processes in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, this paper explores the usefulness of approaching soil as an actor in food systems. Taking a participatory approach, and drawing on recent work on new materialisms, we argue that soil can be understood as an important ally in the struggle to shape a just and sustainable food system. While this work is intended to test this idea through a modest local case study, it may point to important new avenues for investigation in food politics.     

Public and Consumer Policies for Higher Welfare Food Products: Challenges and Opportunities

Farm animal welfare in livestock production is a topical and important issue attracting growing interest of policy makers, consumers, stakeholders in the supply chain and others. While there is much public interest in the issue this is not reflected in the supply and market shares of animal food products that are produced under welfare standards that exceed legislative requirements. Given the obstacles to devising stricter legislative standards, higher welfare animal food products are mostly made available through market-based approaches. This paper discusses different challenges and opportunities for a range of public and consumer policies and makes recommendations on how these might be strengthened. The paper does not report primary empirical findings but assembles available knowledge on citizen and consumer attitudes and perceptions towards animal welfare from various research disciplines. We argue that in order for public and consumer policies to be (more) efficient and effective, it is important to develop a segmented and targeted strategy. This paper will thus elaborate on what information could and should be provided to whom. This implies the need for a good understanding of how people conceptualize farm animal welfare. Further, information provisioning should address the needs and expectations of those specific consumer segments most likely to be motivated to purchase higher welfare products. Based on the assembled information, opportunities and challenges for information provisioning and communication to the public and consumers are identified. The merits and limitations of different forms of information provisioning and animal welfare labelling are discussed and recommendations are set forth for future research.     

Voices of the Volunteers: an Exploration of the Experiences of Catchment Volunteers in Coastal Queensland, Australia

This paper discusses findings of a study of catchment care volunteers drawn from the east coast of Queensland, Australia. Catchment volunteering includes individuals in not-for profit stewardship groups with a catchment focus. Catchment volunteering was experienced by participants as maintaining a balance of perspectives; developing/maintaining an identity; networking; learning; empowering; and sustainable. An illustrative model (the Outcome Space), representing a set of scales, shows the relationship between conceptions.

Results indicate that catchment volunteering offers many benefits to individuals and local communities. Although there were frustrations at times, many volunteers expressed deep levels of satisfaction about their volunteering experiences. Results suggest that satisfied volunteers are those that manage to balance volunteering with other aspects of their lives; identify strongly with some aspect of volunteering; enjoy learning from their volunteer experiences; and were willing and able to share and apply their new knowledge in a variety of ways. They also made friends with other volunteers; felt valued by others in the group, and believed that what they do is important. For these respondents, volunteering contributes richly to the fabric of their lives, providing meaning and satisfaction in routine activities, enhancing local communities and building sustainability.     

Gendered dimensions of climate change response in Swedish municipalities

This article elaborates on and discusses gendered dimensions of climate change response in Swedish municipalities. There are indications that attitudes and behaviour to the environment and climate change are gendered. This evidence together with our own work further indicates that gender awareness is most probably an important influence on how municipalities respond to climate change. The aim of this study was to investigate if and how gendered aspects of climate change response are integrated in the Swedish response to climate change. The potential causal relationships between a high level of awareness of the gendered aspects of climate change and the levels of climate change response were investigated. We asked whether there is a positive relationship between gender awareness and the quality of the communities' climate change policies and practice. Indications of such a relationship prompt a change in research priorities – paying more attention to gender – and in subsequent policy developments.     

(Relative) autonomism,policy currents and the politics of mobilisation for food sovereignty in the United States: the case of Occupy the Farm*

Food sovereignty movements (FSMs) globally have sought to rearrange relations between land, power, state actions and societal forces outside the state, towards a new ideal of democratised, egalitarian and ecological food systems. The question of how best to reach this ideal has vexed movements and scholars alike, with many anti-capitalist theorists proposing that because of the historical dedication of states to maintaining unequal and unsustainable capitalist relations, change must be pursued outside and against the state rather than through it (i.e. through “autonomism”). Yet, analysis of FSMs globally shows that autonomism is relative, partial and best seen as an aspirational ideal rather than a fixed dogma. This paper deepens this insight by analysing a case within the United States where a local direct action group promoted food sovereignty by illegally occupying public land. The case shows how even apparently autonomist movements can through influence on state and societal actors contribute to state-based “policy currents” that flow in the direction of food sovereignty. This mutual codetermination by actors in and out of state institutions of the possibility and shape of “policy currents” renders state–society relations as important, even to those interested in (relative) autonomism. This paper thus leaves behind dichotomous interpretations of (and recommendations for) FSMs vis-à-vis autonomism, in order to unpack the influence (in thought) and impact (in action) of autonomist tendencies in food sovereignty construction.     

Climate change mitigation in Austria and Switzerland: The pitfalls of federalism in greening decentralized building policies

The present paper analyses and compares how federalism in Austria and Switzerland affected climate change mitigation in the fully decentralized building sectors of the two countries during the Kyoto Period (1990–2012). This is of interest because the environmental significance of federal political systems is still contested. We first review the literature on federalism in the context of environmental and climate policymaking, and we show that the effects of federal political systems can be positive or negative (depending on interactions between politics and problem characteristics). We then summarize the two qualitative country studies. By analysing who initiated and coordinated respective policies at what time and why, we show that respective policy changes neither emerged bottom-up nor diffused between provinces/cantons, although the latter are fully responsible for building policies. While most policy changes were triggered by federal and/or European Union interventions, the provinces/cantons usually delayed and/or watered down policy changes to smallest common denominator solutions. Based on these findings we conclude that the building sectors of the two countries became more efficient despite, not because of federalism. Against this background we recommend centralizing building policies, or to engage sub-national actors in national target-setting early on.     

Flexibility in Water Resources Management: Review of Concepts and Development of Assessment Measures for Flood Management Systems

Discussions around adapting water management systems to climate change often express the need to increase system flexibility. Yet despite the frequent use of the term flexibility, very little work has examined what exactly it means to have a flexible water management system, what features of a system make it more flexible than another system, or when the costs to implement flexible options outweigh the benefits gained from increased flexibility. To define and operationalize the concept of flexibility in the field of water resources management, this article reviews and analyzes concepts of flexibility from the fields of information technology, manufacturing, management, and adaptive social‐ecological systems. We identify five characteristics of flexible water resources systems, namely: slack, redundancy, connectivity, compatibility/coordination, and adjustability. We then operationalize the assessment of flexibility for flood management systems by proposing original flexibility metrics and discussing their application. We conclude with a discussion on the tradeoffs of increasing flexibility.     

How do Local Governments in Mexico City Manage Global Warming?

Cities are both significant emitters of carbon dioxide and centres of innovations that may contribute to de-carbonizing our societies. More voices claim therefore that local authorities should be included in efforts to mitigate climate change. However, few studies have analysed how local authorities manage carbon and climate in urban areas in middle- and low-income countries. Yet, the institutional settings and governance structures of such cities are different from those prevailing in cities of wealthy countries. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring: (a) whether and—if so—how local authorities in Mexico City actually 'manage' carbon emissions; (b) how the city's evolving governance structures function and whether they 'fit' with the problem they address; and (c) how institutional capacity constrains authorities' management efforts. The paper suggests that policy networks and research groups have been critical in launching a climate agenda. Nevertheless, this has not been enough to push effective policies. Policymaking has been constrained by two sets of institutional factors: the problem of fit and a lack of institutional capacity.     

Journalism and Science: How to Erode the Idea of Knowledge

This paper discusses aspects of the relationship between the scientific community and the public at large. Inspired by the European public debate on genetically modified crops and food, ethical challenges to the scientific community are highlighted. This is done by a discussion of changes that are likely to occur to journalistic attitudes – mirroring changing attitudes in the wider society – towards science and scientific researchers. Two journalistic conventions – those of science transmission and of investigative journalism – are presented and discussed in relation to the present drive towards commercialization within the world of science: how are journalists from these different schools of thought likely to respond to the trend of commercialization? Likely journalistic reactions could, while maintaining the authority of the scientific method, be expected to undermine public trust in scientists. In the long term, this may lead to an erosion of the idea of knowledge as something that cannot simply be reduced to the outcome of negotiation between stakeholders. It is argued that science is likely to be depicted as a fallen angel. This may be countered, it is posited, by science turning human, by recognizing its membership of society, and by recognizing that such membership entails more than just commercial relations. To rethink its relationship with the public at large – and, in particular, to rethink the ideal of disinterested science – is an ethical challenge facing the scientific community.     

Southwest climate gap: poverty and environmental justice in the US Southwest

This article examines the “climate gap” in the Southwest US (Arizona and New Mexico), referring to the “disproportionate and unequal implications of climate change and climate change mitigation” for “people of color and the poor” [Shonkoff, S.B., et al., 2011. The climate gap: environmental health and equity implications of climate change mitigation policies in California. Climatic Change, 109 (Suppl. 1), S485–S503]. The climate and poverty relationship is examined using multi-scaled analysis across three indicators of climate vulnerability, focusing on connections to health, food, and energy during the period 2010–2012. We provide an overview of climate-related social vulnerability in the Southwest based on available federal, state, and county-level census data. We then summarise the results from a stakeholder workshop and in-depth interviews about climate vulnerabilities with social service providers in southern Arizona. We identify a significant Southwest climate gap based on census data and interview findings about climate vulnerability especially relating to high levels of poverty, health disparities, and increasing costs for energy, water, and food. We find that grassroots and community organisations have mobilised to respond to climate and social vulnerability, yet resources for mitigation and adaptation are insufficient given the high level of need. Confronting a changing climate that is projected to be hotter, drier, and with the potential to reach new thresholds, we suggest that more research needs to be done to understand the social and spatial characteristics of climate risk and how low-income populations embody and experience climate risk, and adapt to a changing climate.     

Re-imagining the environment: using an environmental art festival to encourage pro-environmental behaviour and a sense of place

Environmental art can be used by government as an engaging medium to encourage pro-environmental behaviour and a sense of place at a grassroots level. By stimulating discussion and reflection, environmental art offers an imaginative format to promote environmental engagement. In this case, by placing artworks in nature, a community's focus was drawn to the beauty of their everyday environment and the ideas communicated by the works, in an effort to encourage environmental awareness and stewardship. This study explores audience responses to Floating Land – a local-government-initiated environmental art festival held in the Noosa Biosphere in Australia. A multi-layered perspective of the festival's impact on pro-environmental behaviours and sense of place was investigated via questionnaires administered to the audience, workshop participants and local residents. Data offered insights into attitude differences between those who intended to change their behaviour and those who did not; understandings about the influence of workshop facilitators; and revelations about a community finding opportunities to re-imagine their place through environmental art. Recommendations are offered as a way for governments to incorporate environmental art into their role of educating for the environment. This study contributes to the under-researched area of audience responses to environmental art by providing qualitative and quantitative analysis that draws out understandings of the impact of art that promotes environmental awareness and a sense of place. The study reveals that Floating Land contributed to reinforcing the essential role of local people in engendering positive change, thus manifesting the aims of the Biosphere Reserve and Agenda 21.