The Growing Role of Subnational Governments in Combating Climate Change

As the global community grapples with the undeniable reality of climate change, a powerful shift is underway in how we approach this existential challenge. While international agreements and national policies often dominate headlines, it’s increasingly clear that meaningful climate action is happening closer to home-in states, provinces, cities, and municipalities around the world. These subnational governments are emerging as critical players in the fight against climate change, often moving faster and more ambitiously than their national counterparts.

The environmental wake-up call 🔗

The relationship between economic development and environmental degradation has become impossible to ignore. For decades, growth-focused policies paid little attention to the finite nature of our planet’s resources. Today, however, scientific evidence makes it clear that human influence on the climate system is undeniable, with recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases reaching historically unprecedented levels.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading international body assessing climate science, has issued increasingly urgent warnings about what lies ahead. According to the IPCC’s Working Group II report, human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting billions of lives worldwide. The report describes climate change as a grave and mounting threat to human wellbeing and planetary health.

These warnings are not abstract predictions for a distant future. Scientists observe changes in the Earth’s climate in every region and across the entire climate system. Many of these changes are unprecedented in thousands-even hundreds of thousands-of years. Some changes already set in motion, such as continued sea level rise, will be irreversible over centuries to millennia.

What the science tells us 🔗

The IPCC’s findings paint a sobering picture of climate impacts that are already unfolding. Increased heatwaves, droughts, and floods are exceeding plants’ and animals’ tolerance thresholds, driving mass mortalities in species such as trees and corals. These extreme weather events increasingly occur simultaneously, creating cascading impacts that become ever more difficult to manage.

The human toll is equally stark. Millions of people have been exposed to acute food and water insecurity, particularly in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Small Island states, and the Arctic. The world faces unavoidable multiple climate hazards over the next two decades with global warming of 1.5°C, and even temporarily exceeding this warming level will result in additional severe impacts, some of which will be irreversible.

Why subnational governments matter 🔗

In the face of these challenges, both national and subnational governments play essential roles. But there’s growing recognition that states, provinces, and municipalities possess unique advantages in the climate fight. Mobilizing all levels of government has long been recognized as a vital tool in climate action, yet many countries have struggled to effectively engage their subnational governments in this effort.

The position of subnational governments between national and local levels makes them uniquely suited to drive climate action. They can implement innovative policies that respond to local conditions, test new approaches that might later scale nationally, and influence both national governments above them and cities below them.

The transformative potential 🔗

Significant variations exist in how countries organize responsibilities for climate policies and programs. While some nations give central governments exclusive authority, a greater number assign joint responsibility to central and subnational governments. Research suggests that allowing subnational units to exceed national targets represents a superior approach, as it best accommodates the unique characteristics of climate policy in multilevel governance systems.

The U.S. provides a compelling case study. Research published in Nature Communications demonstrates that existing commitments from U.S. states, cities, and businesses could reduce emissions by 25% below 2005 levels by 2030. With enhanced action from these actors, emissions could drop by as much as 37%. This illustrates how subnational actions can provide a foundation for more ambitious national climate strategies.

Climate initiatives at the subnational level 🔗

Across the globe, subnational governments are not waiting for national leadership-they’re forging ahead with their own climate initiatives. This groundswell of activity represents one of the most significant developments in climate governance over the past decade.

The Under2 Coalition 🔗

One of the most prominent examples of subnational climate cooperation is the Under2 Coalition. This coalition represents the largest global network of states and regions committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The network brings together more than 270 governments representing over 1.75 billion people and 50% of the world economy.

The coalition began as a memorandum of understanding signed by twelve founding jurisdictions in May 2015 in Sacramento, California, through a partnership between California and Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its signatories aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 2 metric tons per capita or reduce them by 80-95% below 1990 levels by 2050. Members also pledge to assist each other with scientific research and share available technologies and best practices in energy efficiency.

Global coalitions and partnerships 🔗

The Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) for Climate Action, launched at COP28 in December 2023, represents another important initiative. CHAMP aims to enhance cooperation between national and subnational governments in planning, financing, implementing, and monitoring climate strategies.

Analysis from UN-Habitat shows that only 27% of nations’ pledges under the Paris Agreement include strong urban content. CHAMP addresses this gap by encouraging national governments to set climate targets in closer collaboration with subnational governments. The initiative has been endorsed by 77 negotiating parties to the Paris Agreement.

The impact of such initiatives extends beyond symbolic commitments. Cities require an estimated US$4.5 trillion annually through 2030 for climate mitigation and adaptation. Initiatives like CHAMP aim to accelerate climate finance access for local governments by ensuring they have a seat at the table when national and international policy frameworks are designed.

Understanding subnational government 🔗

The term “subnational government” encompasses a wide range of administrative levels below the national government. Depending on a country’s political structure, this can include states or provinces, departments, regions, counties, municipalities, cities, towns, and villages.

A diverse landscape 🔗

What constitutes subnational government varies significantly across countries. In federal systems like the United States, Germany, or India, states or provinces often have substantial autonomy and can enact their own climate legislation. In more centralized systems, subnational governments may have less independent authority but can still implement national policies with local adaptations.

Intergovernmental relations have both fiscal and administrative dimensions. Both functions are essential to subnational climate action and must be considered together, along with political considerations, in designing effective policies and support systems.

Tools available to subnational governments 🔗

Subnational governments have multiple tools at their disposal for climate action. Green taxation remains at very low levels in most countries, which provides substantial space for both central governments and subnational units to make more extensive use of environmental levies. Providing subnational governments with greater green tax autonomy can be an effective way to address fiscal imbalances while advancing climate goals.

Intergovernmental fiscal transfers represent another powerful financing instrument. Conditional grants can compensate local jurisdictions for internalizing environmental externalities, incentivize conservation activities, promote energy efficiency, or introduce land-use restrictions to prevent flooding damages.

Additionally, local borrowing-particularly through green bonds-has emerged as a promising mechanism for financing infrastructure projects related to decarbonization and climate adaptation. These instruments often offer tax advantages that make them attractive to investors while supporting crucial climate investments.

Cities: Frontlines of climate action 🔗

The IPCC’s Working Group II report provides detailed assessment of climate impacts in cities, where more than half the world’s population lives. Urban residents’ health, lives, livelihoods, and property-along with critical energy and transportation infrastructure-face increasing threats from heatwaves, storms, drought, flooding, and sea level rise.

However, cities also present enormous opportunities. Green buildings, reliable supplies of clean water and renewable energy, and sustainable transport systems connecting urban and rural areas can lead to more inclusive, fairer societies. The challenge lies in ensuring that rapidly urbanizing areas don’t lock in carbon-intensive development patterns while addressing existing vulnerabilities.

The path forward 🔗

The science is clear, and the urgency is undeniable. The IPCC warns that any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future. In this context, subnational governments represent not just another layer of bureaucracy but a crucial arena where climate ambition can be translated into concrete action.

The diversity of subnational climate initiatives around the world offers grounds for cautious optimism. As Maryland’s Secretary of Environment stated at COP29, when told that progress is too fast, the response should be that it’s actually too slow. This sentiment captures the spirit animating subnational climate leaders worldwide-a recognition that the traditional pace of governmental action is insufficient for the challenge at hand.

Success will require unprecedented cooperation between government levels, along with engagement from civil society, the private sector, research institutions, and citizens. Better engaging subnational actors-cities, states, and regions-can help get the world back on track, especially when combined with action from other stakeholders.

What do you think? How can your local or regional government do more to address climate change? What role should citizens play in pushing subnational governments toward greater climate ambition?

References

1. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/reports
2. https://www.ipcc.ch/2022/02/28/pr-wgii-ar6/
3. https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/
4. https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/governance/role-subnational-governments-combating-climate-change
5. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18903-w
6. https://www.theclimategroup.org/under2-coalition
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under2_Coalition
8. https://www.wri.org/initiatives/coalition-high-ambition-multilevel-partnerships-champ-climate-action
9. https://www.cdp.net/en/insights/showcasing-cities-investment-needs-for-aligned-multilevel-climate-action
10. https://www.theclimategroup.org/our-work/news/under2-coalition-2024-focus
11. https://www.wri.org/initiatives/subnational-climate-action-leaders-exchange-scale