Is All Politics Local When the Problem is National? The Role of Local Governments in Mitigating Climate Change

In recent debates about climate change, focus typically centers on national governmental responses, predominantly due to their broad capabilities which influence issues such as greenhouse gas emissions significantly. However, an expanding corpus of research now highlights the critical roles that local governments play as innovators in this arena, often deploying ingenious strategies to handle problems that extend beyond their direct control. Local authorities, much like less developed nation-states, operate under tight fiscal constraints, limited bureaucratic capacities, and exposure to neighboring externalities, challenging the traditional nation-state theory which assumes complete governmental sovereignty encompassing the regulation of goods, people, and capital across borders.This Research Topic aims to attract empirical and theoretical contributions that illuminate how local governments, and similarly constrained nation-states, can challenge and innovate beyond conventional political theories in handling climate change. Explorations may include interdisciplinary approaches from sociology, public administration, psychology, climate science, and health, focusing on both adaptation strategies to cope with the impacts of climate change and mitigation efforts to address its causes. Contributions should ideally provide alternative perspectives to the sluggish advancements often seen in national-level climate policies.To gather further insights into how contemporary local governance can evolve and impact the realm of climate policy, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Utilization of scientific data to depoliticize climate initiatives• Creative adaptation of local policy instruments to combat climate change• Enhancement of intergovernmental relations to further climate objectives• Engagement with non-governmental entities to fortify policy measures• Strategies to solve collective action dilemmas in climate change efforts• Development of integrated theories explaining local governmental actions and effectiveness Topic editors: Jill L. Tao, David Kasdan Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/69652/is-all-politics-local-when-the-problem-is-national-the-role-of-local-governments-in-mitigating-climate-change