Voluntary Urban Climate Governance: Whether and How Should City Governments Be Involved?

Abstract

Voluntary urban climate governance has been posed to overcome shortfalls with mandatory, top-down, state-led government interventions to address climate change risks. It seeks a commitment from households and firms to improve their environmental sustainability, but without the force of law. City governments are highly active in voluntary urban climate governance, and particularly in the development and implementation of voluntary programs for urban climate action. There is little evidence, however, on whether their involvement positively affects voluntary program performance, or not. This article presents qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) of 26 voluntary programs from Australia, the Netherlands and the U.S. seeking to understand whether, and if so how, city governments affect the performance of voluntary urban climate programs. Results will help to inform the roles city governments may take in voluntary urban climate governance.

Keywords: Urban Climate Governance, Voluntary Programs, Comparative Qualitative Analysis, Climate Action, Built Environment