Climate Governance and Federalism

The majority of the world’s largest carbon emitters are either federations or have adopted systems of decentralised governance. The realisation of the world’s climate mitigation objectives therefore depends in large part on whether and how governments within federal systems can co-operate to reduce carbon emissions and catalyse the emergence of low-carbon societies. This volume brings together leading experts to explore whether federal or decentralised systems help or hinder efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. It reviews the opportunities and challenges federalism offers for the development and implementation of climate mitigation and adaption policies and identifies the conditions that influence the outcomes of climate governance. Including in-depth case studies of fourteen different jurisdictions, this is an essential resource for academics, policymakers, and practitioners interested in climate governance and the best practices for enhancing climate action. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Alan Fenna is Professor of Politics at the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy, Curtin University, Western Australia. He specialises in Australian and comparative federalism and public policy and has authored or co-authored a range of books, book chapters and journal articles on those subjects. He worked in the Federal Affairs Division of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Western Australia; was an elected member of local government; and served as president of the Australian Political Studies Association (APSA) 2009–10.

Sébastien Jodoin is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law of McGill University, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights, Health, and the Environment. He is the founding director of the Disability-Inclusive Climate Action Research Programme, a pioneering initiative to generate, co-produce, and translate knowledge at the intersections of disability and climate justice. His work in the field of climate change has been cited by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Joana Setzer is Assistant Professor at the Grantham Research Institute, at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences. She leads the Institute’s research on climate litigation as well as the Climate Change Laws of the World project – the most comprehensive global resource on climate policy, legislation, and litigation. She regularly advises a range of international organisations, governments, and non-governmental organisations in the field of climate law and policy.