Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Commentary
  • Published:

Towards a new climate diplomacy

Subjects

A new kind of climate politics is emerging, as national actions prove insufficient to address the changing climate. Subnational actors — ranging from provinces and cities, to civil sector organizations and private companies — are acting alongside nation states, making up for lost ground and missed opportunities.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Five of the 29 commitments made at the NY Climate Summit could result in a 2.54 GtCO2e reduction in annual global total GHG emissions in 2020.

References

  1. Lima Call for Climate Action Decision-/CP20 (UNFCCC, 2014); http://go.nature.com/ZRE3zU

  2. Blok, K., Höhne, N., van der Leun, K. & Harrison, N. Nature Clim. Change 2, 471–474 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. The Emissions Gap Report 2014 (UNEP, 2014); http://go.nature.com/lA6naE

  4. Keohane, R. O. & Victor, D. G. Perspect. Polit. 9, 7–23 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Biermann, F., Chan, S., Mert, A. & Pattberg, P. in Public–Private Partnerships for Sustainable Development: Emergence, Influence and Legitimacy (eds Pattberg, P. et al.) 69–87 (Edward Elgar, 2012).

  6. Biermann, F., Pattberg, P., Van Asselt, H. & Zelli, F. Glob. Environ. Polit. 9, 14–40 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Hale, T. & Mauzerall, D. J. Environ. Dev. 13, 220–239 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Van Asselt, H. The Fragmentation of Global Climate Governance: Consequences and Management of Regime Interactions (Edward Elgar, 2014).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  9. Widerberg, O. & Pattberg, P. Global Policy 6, 45–56 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Chan, S. & Pauw, P. A Global Framework for Climate Action (GCFA): Orchestrating Non-State and Sub-national Initiatives for More Effective Global Climate Governance Discussion Paper 34 (German Development Institute, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Skocpol, T. Naming the Problem: What It Will Take To Counter Extremism and Engage Americans in the Fight Against Global Warming (Harvard Univ., 2013).

    Google Scholar 

  12. UN Climate Summit: Ban Ki-moon Final Summary. UNFCCC (September 25 2014); http://go.nature.com/25KTrU

  13. CO2 Emissions From Fuel Combustion: Highlights (IEA, 2013); http://go.nature.com/9DPilY

  14. Utility-Scale Energy Technology Capacity Factors (NREL, 2014); http://www.nrel.gov/analysis/tech_cap_factor.html

  15. Rio+20 Voluntary Commitments (UNCSD, 2012); http://go.nature.com/l53mth

  16. Wolosin, M. & Belenky, M. Gap Analysis with Paris Pledges (Climate Advisors, 2014); http://go.nature.com/42InFe

    Google Scholar 

  17. IPCC Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis (eds Stocker, T. F. et al.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013).

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank A. Zomer, P. Hirsch, and F. Melkinov of Yale University for providing research support. We are grateful to the participants within the Galvanizing the Groundswell network convened by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Blavatnik School of Oxford University, and the Stanley Foundation for feedback.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 1056 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hsu, A., Moffat, A., Weinfurter, A. et al. Towards a new climate diplomacy. Nature Clim Change 5, 501–503 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2594

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2594

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing