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Emergence of polycentric climate governance and its future prospects

Nature Climate Change volume 5, pages 977–982 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

The international climate regime represented by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has been widely critiqued. However, 'new' dynamic forms of climate governing are appearing in alternative domains, producing a more polycentric pattern. Some analysts believe that the new forms will fill gaps in the existing regime, but this optimism is based on untested assumptions about their diffusion and performance. The advent of polycentric governance offers new opportunities for climate action, but it is too early to judge whether hopes about the effectiveness of emerging forms of climate governance are well founded.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. Biesbroek for helpful comments, and the COST network INOGOV — Innovations in Climate Governance for funding (IS1309). H.v.A. acknowledges funding from Sida and the Swedish Research Council (Formas).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, UEA, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

    Andrew J. Jordan, Tim J. Rayner, Jonas J. Schoenefeld & Johanna Forster

  2. Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1087, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands

    Dave Huitema

  3. Department of Science, Faculty of Management, Science and Technology, Netherlands Open University, Valkenburgerweg, Heerlen, 1776419 AT, The Netherlands

    Dave Huitema

  4. Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), PO Box 140, Helsinki, FI-00251, Finland

    Mikael Hildén

  5. Stockholm Environment Institute, 29 Grove Street, Oxford, OX2 6EQ, UK

    Harro van Asselt

  6. Institute of Political Science, University of Heidelberg, Bergheimer Straße 58, Heidelberg, 69115, Germany

    Jale Tosun

  7. CICERO, Pb. 1129 Blindern, Oslo, 0318, Norway

    Elin L. Boasson

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Contributions

A.J. and D.H. conceived and designed the paper, contributed materials and wrote it. M.H., H.v.A., T.R., J.S., J.T., J.F. and E.B. contributed materials and wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Andrew J. Jordan.

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Jordan, A., Huitema, D., Hildén, M. et al. Emergence of polycentric climate governance and its future prospects. Nature Clim Change 5, 977–982 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2725

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