• Timeline: 2008–2010 funded research, 2011-2014 publications
• Keywords: Transnational Governance, Climate Change
• Funding Organisations: The Leverhulme Trust

Abstract:

Spearheaded by Professor Harriet Bulkeley, University of Durham, and in collaboration with Professor Liliana Andonova, IHEID, and Professor Michele Betsill, Colorado State University, along with a network of international scholars, Transnational Climate Change Governance is an international research network sponsored by the Leverhulme Trust. The project aims to examine the significance and implications of transnational arrangements for climate change governance by bringing together an interdisciplinary group of scholars with expertise in transnational relations, global governance and climate change. While both research and policy communities are increasingly interested in the potential of transnational climate change governance, there is an absence of a systematic framework for considering their emergence and potential. Given the proliferation of these arrangements, and the seemingly inexorable rise in greenhouse gas emissions, there is a pressing need to understand their influence, effectiveness and legitimacy.

The research project develops the conceptual basis for understanding transnational climate change governance and the central issues of authority, legitimacy, representation and accountability. It conducts systematic mapping the nature and scope of transnational governance arrangements for climate change and develops a typology to evaluate the significance of this phenomenon. It analyses and compares case studies of transnational governance arrangements for climate change in order to understand their functions, effectiveness and limitations. Lastly, the project aims to engage the wider research and policy community to consider the implications of transnational climate change governance for post-2012 climate policy, for the environment and for our understanding of global governance. One of the major outputs of this project is the new book Transnational Climate Change Governance to be published by Cambridge University Press in August 2014.

Partners: Durham University, IHEID, Lund University, Colorado State University, Vrije University, Amsterdam, Sciences Po, Manchester University, University of Toronto, Wageningen University, University of Amsterdam Business School, University of Massachusetts, CIESIN, Columbia University, University of East Anglia, University of Ottawa, University of Victoria, University of New Hampshire