ABSTRACT

This book takes an innovative approach to studying international climate governance by providing a critical analysis of climate leadership, pioneership and followership across the globe.

The volume assesses the interactions between climate leaders, pioneers and followers, across multilevel and/or polycentric climate governance contexts. Examining the state and sub-state levels in both the Global South and Global North, as well as regional, supranational EU and international climate governance levels, the authors explore 16 countries across Asia, Australasia, Europe, and Central and North America, plus the European Union. Each chapter employs a comprehensive and consistent framework for analyzing leadership and pioneership, as well as followership. The findings provide new insights into the strategies and actions of sub-state, state-level, and supranational leaders and pioneers.

This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in environmental politics and climate change governance, as well as those interested in political elites, EU studies and, more broadly, comparative politics and international relations.

part 1|20 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|18 pages

Introduction

Climate governance across the globe: pioneers, leaders and followers

part 2|100 pages

Global South

chapter 2|22 pages

China

Emerging low-carbon pioneers at city level

chapter 3|16 pages

India

From climate laggard to global solar energy leader

chapter 4|21 pages

Costa Rica and Vietnam

Pioneers in green transformations

chapter 5|19 pages

Rhetoric and reality in New Zealand’s climate leadership

‘My generation’s nuclear-free moment’

chapter 6|20 pages

Multilevel climate governance in Brazil and Indonesia

Domestic pioneership and leadership in the Global South

part 3|136 pages

United States and Europe

chapter 7|19 pages

Climate change politics and policy in the United States

Forward, reverse and through the looking glass

chapter 9|22 pages

Climate policy in Germany

Pioneering a complex transformation process

chapter 10|18 pages

Lessons from climate action in the UK

The limitations of state leadership

chapter 11|17 pages

Governance, green finance and global climate advocacy of the Nordic countries

Small state syndrome or novel middle power?

chapter 12|18 pages

Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly on climate change

Institutional pioneership by a climate laggard? 1

chapter 13|22 pages

Switzerland

International commitments and domestic drawbacks

part 4|20 pages

Conclusion

chapter 14|18 pages

Conclusion

Pioneers, leaders and followers in multilevel and polycentric climate governance reassessed