ABSTRACT
Urban populations, economic activities and infrastructure are responsible for between 71 and 75% of global anthropogenic GHG emissions (Seto et al., 2014). However, often only a small fraction of emissions produced within a city is under the direct control of local governments, and while cities are vulnerable to a suite of negative impacts that climate change is projected to aggravate, many adaptation options are also out of local reach. In these cases, other jurisdictions and actors, such as national governments or the private sector, may have control over regulations, investments and programs that drive and manage emissions and risk. Hence, in order to mitigate GHG emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change a range of actors, across sectors and levels of government, will need to create multilevel and multisectoral coalitions for effective urban climate governance. And indeed cities are “repositioning themselves in relation to the global climate regime” (Johnson et al., Chapter 1 this volume) through climate relevant actions such as energy efficiency plans and infrastructure investments seeking to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change.
