In the context of climate regime, multilevel governance is a concept, which helps to reflect the role of the cities mitigating and adapting to the climate change. The article by Lockwood et al. (2010) defined that governance includes aspects such as legitimacy, transparency, accountability, inclusiveness, fairness, integration, capability and adaptability. I will discuss and reflect my research findings related to this governance concept.
Local municipalities have legitimacy541 to do the local sustainable and climate-friendly decisions in their national legislation framework. In the Constitution of the World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments adopted by Constitutive General Assembly, the 5th of May 2004 preamble it is said, that “we representatives of local governments the world over…create a new unified world organization of local
539 Lemos – Agrawal Environment 2007, p. 44.
540 Duit – Feindt – Meadowcroft Environmental Politics 2015.
541 Legitimacy refers to organization`s authority`s validity to govern. E.g. the Tokyo Metropolitan Govern-ment requires green roofs on all new buildings with a footprint of over 1000m2. Vogel – Henstra, Global En-vironmental Change 2015, p. 113.This legitimacy might be conferred to stakeholders directly or indirectly.
Lockwood et al. Society and Natural Resources 2010, p. 991–992. The legitimacy may be earned through the acceptance by stakeholders. Lockwood et al. Society and Natural Resources 2010, p. 991.
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governments”.542 The local municipalities, while facing the same challenges caused by the climate change and seeking to find solutions, have found each other at the international level.
This creates an interesting new concept of action in international legal field, where the municipalities contribute to the field of international law. Additionally, in international legal field where the hierarchy of norms is not as clear as in national level legislation, new multilevel governance instruments543 are founded to promote co-operation between cities.
The weakness of the multilevel international climate regime at the moment is that it lacks effective leadership. However, several city networks, which overlap or create gaps, may empower both national and international level decision-making in climate change problem solving.
Transparency in the governance concept refers to visibility and clear reasoning of the decision-making processes.544 This is a challenge to all democratic institutions all over the world, even in open democratic societies. The transparency is one of the challenges in public procurement procedure, too. How do we enable the access to information in relevant measures, which have an impact on our environment and climate change? Even in the EU, the access to environmental information needed to be secured by regulation.545 Access to information is crucial in order to engage citizens attending to formulation of climate action plans and adaptation. Participation is a key factor while transferring the society to a more sustainable direction. This should also cover public procurement measures.
The allocation of responsibility and general acceptance for making decisions and actions is emphasized through accountability.546 The cities are motivated to act for better environment, since the risks the climate change creates for them are various and more difficult to govern compared to prevention efforts. By accountability we can also understand the role of cities
542 UCLG: United Cities and Local Governments: The Constitution of the World Organization
of United Cities and Local Governments. Adopted by Constitutive General Assembly, the 5th of May 2004, Paris, France.
543 Read more this e.g. Klabbers 2013; And about the definition of law read more in Klabbers - Piiparinen 2013, p. 18–19.
544 Lockwood et al. Society and Natural Resources 2010, p. 993.
545 Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006; Art. 2(d) defines that by environmental information is referred to infor-mation in written, visual, aural, electronic or any other material form on the environment, including air and atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites, wetlands, coastal and marine areas, biological di-versity and its components. It also includes information about factors, which have on impact on the environ-ment that is certain substances, energy, noise, radiation or waste. OJ 25.9.2006, L 264, p. 13–19.
546 Lockwood et al. Society and Natural Resources 2010, p. 993.
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in relation to citizens. The accountability towards local authorities is crucial when catastrophic events will happen. Relieving uncertainty is important.547 Another way of releaving uncertainty is to give people possibilities to get involved. That is why in procurement processes, if there is environmental impact on the citizens environment, hearings should be part of the preparation work of the procurement. Accountability is close to the principle of transparency, meaning that at local level the open access to information is important in two ways. Firstly, it allows the citizens to get involved in decision making processes via initiatives or other policy measures. Secondly, it provides information, which prevents uncertainty, demonstrations and violence.548
Inclusiveness in this governance concept refers to opportunities, which are available to stakeholders for participating and influencing the decision-making processes.549 This principle is important when it comes to wicked problems, such as climate change, since no single actor has the knowledge and capability to ponder all the different aspects related to the problem.550 The more shareholders the better.551 The national and global city networks share information, new innovations and good practices.552 The challenge they face on a daily basis is, however, the implementation measures. Since the legal frameworks and environmental circumstances are various and vary between cities regionally, not to mention globally, the new innovations and research results are not directly adaptable. This leads to the importance of local knowledge. In addition, success of the inclusiveness principle depends on the transparency principle.553 It is important that all essential actors, specialists and researchers are heard, and all relevant aspects noticed. That highlights the importance of co-ordination and co-operation, not only horizontally, but also vertically in the context of public procurement.
By fairness, the attention which is given to stakeholders` views and consideration in distribution of costs and benefits in decision-making, is evaluated.554 For example, in the
547 The resent research has showed that climate change can cause psychological stress to the citizens.
Pihkala, Tieteessä tapahtuu 2018.
548 Lockwood et al. Society and Natural Resources 2010, p. 993.
549 Lockwood et al. Society and Natural Resources 2010, p. 993–994.
550 Lockwood et al. Society and Natural Resources 2010, p. 994.
551 Chan et al. WIRES Clim Change 2019 discusses about the concept of amount of shareholders.
552 Both private and public sector actors are co-operating in these networks. Bouteligier 2012.
553 Lockwood et al. Society and Natural Resources 2010, p. 993–994.
554 Lockwood et al. Society and Natural Resources 2010, p. 994–995.
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context of climate regime, the fairness principle is found in the Kyoto Protocol. The binding GHG emission targets were set on developed countries, but not to developing countries.
Fairness principles can also be found in the cities global networks. The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities555 is taken into account in C40 norm setting actions.556 It is a valid principle among the participants, even if there are C40 cities located in countries which have not been ratified by the Kyoto Protocol.557 This highlights the way cities can interpret their own rules in the field of international law. In practice, this is seen in network co-operation, for example, in operation modes such as wealthier cities with better resources, taking care of organizing and hosting the summits, conferences and workshops. 558 Similarly, in Finland, wealthier and bigger cities act as leaders in current city-networks. Existing regional procurement units could promote climate measures and share expertise in existing networks and lead the way to more climate-friendly public purchasing.
Integration refers to the connection between different governance levels, and coordination across them.559 Integration of policy initiatives is used in order to avoid redundancy and for efficient distribution of public funds.560 When it comes to the role of city governance, the co-operation is crucially related to efficiency. The common platform to share experiences and good practices is important and diminishes the public costs. The challenge is that very rarely cities or any actors want to share information about those failed measures even if sharing these experiences would enable other cities to learn and avoid redundant efforts.
What makes city networks also potential key actors in the global climate change field, is the so called strategic connectivity. If they commonly succeed in finding efficient ways for diminishing GHG emissions, the results in a national or global context are tremendous. They can also implement the new measures within their national circumstances without time consuming legislation process. This might lead to bottom-up approaches, which were also recognized in the Paris negotiations.
555 The UNFCCC Art. 3 para. 1 and Art. 4 para. 1.
556 Lin 2018, p. 114.
557 Lin 2018, p. 156.
558 Ibid.
559 Lockwood et al. Society and Natural Resources 2010, p. 995.
560 Lockwood et al. Society and Natural Resources 2010, p. 995–996.
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Capability in this governance concept refers to systems, plans, resources, skills, leadership and knowledge.561 In environmental governance the risk is always that responsibilities are allocated to local actors without proportionate resources.562 The risk is acute. Even if cities are autonomous actors, the consequences of climate change are so varied and the transformation processes so tremendous, that cities are not able to manage them financially without state subventions. Various financial instruments are needed. The EU has also noticed this demand and developed financial instruments to relieve the problem.563 Proper financing is a fundamental precondition for climate action by cities.564 It is challenging to adapt to climate change and implement more climate-friendly city planning without permanent and tolerable mechanism for financing. The funding solutions, when it comes to climate change activities, are often ad hoc based and uncoordinated. Managing transportation and infrastructure investments is urgent in order to improve climate-friendly policy and achieving GHG emission targets.565 However, these investments are often co-ordinated, financed and managed by governmental and multilevel institutions, not only by local cities.566 Co-ordination between municipal and national authorities should be further developed in intrastructure projects, which have long-term impacts on environment and climate.
Adaptability refers to the target of combaining knowledge and learning in decision making, implementation and management of risks and opportunities.567 Since the climate change causes risks for cities and communities, national governments have begun to put effort into climate adaptation policies, which aim for reducing vulnerability of populations.568 Also, the amount of local adaptation plans has emerged.569 One example of more efficient adaptability is also found from the global city network. C40 has created sixteen issue-specific platforms for cities for gathering information related to climate related networks. These platforms are,
561 Lockwood et al. Society and Natural Resources 2010, p. 996.
562 Ibid.
563 Total 20 % of the EU budget during years 2014–2020 is spent on climate-related actions. European Com-mission: Energy, Climate change, Environment: Climate Action: EU Action: International action on climate change: EU action at international level 19.8.2019.
564 McCarney Environment and Urbanization ASIA 2012, p. 34.
565 McCarney Environment and Urbanization ASIA 2012, p. 35.
566 Ibid.
567 Lockwood et al. Society and Natural Resources 2010, p. 996–997.
568 The vulnerability depends on what are the geographical risks at that certain area and on the adaptability and type of the population. Gregow et al. 2016, p. 10.
569 Vogel – Henstra Global Environmental Change 2015, p. 110.
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for example, Water, Energy, Finance and Economic Development, Measurement and Planning, Solid Waste Management, Transportation and Urban Planning, and Development networks.570 Each of these networks´ meetings are organized for the cities, which belong and are part of that particular network.571 C40 also aims to promote new ideas and resource gathering in order to support the member cities.572 The challenge in adaptation of climate-friendly policy measures is also that in different policy fields, even in the same city, there are remarkable differences in the levels of governance procedures.573 Also municipal structures so far are sector based. Sustainable solutions need overlapping new solutions.
Municipal authorities are key actors, if we want to combat climate change. However, it is not enough, that only certain kinds of actors are successful - the whole society needs to be led through the transition process. The global challenge is, that these transition processes are defined as long-term and multi-dimensional processes.574 The transition process should be pretty rapid, but at the same time, controlled. Also, system changes are never linear. The transfer occurs at multiple levels.575 The crucial question is, how can these different governance levels be combined? We have a state, which is crucial in legislative actions and financing infrastructure projects, which affect both localities and the national level. We have cities, which on a daily basis, make decisions regarding the public consumption using public procurement. The city networks manage to combine both local and global aspects, but they often lack national or regional aspects. Also, outside of these public entities, there are non-governmental organizations, private sector actors and citizens, which also need to be recognized.
There is a lot of potential, which is not yet used in cities.576 Cities are public entities, which have location-based specific knowledge about climate risks, enabling them to design strategies and procurements, which are tailored to the local needs. Being aware of these local risks establishes the importance of taking adaptive actions.577 These local adaptation
570 C40: Why cities? 2019.
571 In order to guarantee the efficiency one city can participate to only one or few working groups.
572 Lin 2018, p. 118.
573 Monni – Raes Environmental Social Policy 2008.
574 Markard et al. Research Policy 2012, p. 955.
575 Geels 2002, p. 1261.
576 For example, one fifth of total Kyoto targets would be obtained if green electricity would be in use in all public estates. Pääkaupunkiseudun ilmastostrategia 2030 2007, p. 13.
577 Vogel – Henstra Global Environmental Change 2015, p. 110–120.
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measures do not take place in isolation, but on a multilevel governance, where information is commonly shared.
During the implementation process of the current public procurement law in Finland, the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries gave a statement that there should be more strict environmental criteria in the purchasing processes.578 This also gives a signal that more can and should be done. Stricter environmental criteria or climate criteria would help mu-nicipal authorities and at the same time give some advantage to those industries, which have put efforts into designing greener products and processes. More legislation, finances, infor-mation, access to information and participation are needed. Sustainable public procurement and its climate criteria are constructing a bridge between international/EU law and local legal instruments. Sustainability is not only a target in all decision-making but also a guiding prin-ciple for local authorities. Administrative legislation combined with environmental princi-ples limits the discretion of authorities in public procurement processes and limits their con-tractual freedom.
Informing citizens regarding climate- and environment related procurements should be sup-ported. Activity should be supported at least in those sectors which have the largest carbon footprint. The teleological interpretation in EU law, connects values and political aims to concrete legal decisions. These values and aims should also gain more emphasis at the local level. Neither the subsidiarity principle nor the autonomous legal status of municipalities must not lead to ignorance of these commonly agreed aims and targets, but it means that solutions should be customized. By increasing publicity, participation and transparency in public procurement, processes may lead these common values and targets to succeed.
578 Rakennusteollisuus 2018.