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.

  • Perspective
  • Published:

Emergence of polycentric climate governance and its future prospects

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

Subjects

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.

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

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Jordan, A. et al. Going beyond two degrees? The risks and opportunities of alternative options. Clim. Policy 13, 751–769 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Davis, S. J., Cao, L., Caldeira, K. & Hoffert, M. I. Rethinking wedges. Environ. Res. Lett. 8, 011001 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Levi-Faur, D. Oxford Handbook of Governance (Oxford Univ. Press, 2012).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Hoffmann, M. J. Climate Governance at the Crossroads: Experimenting with a Global Response after Kyoto (Oxford Univ. Press, 2011).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Keohane, R. O. & Victor, D. G. The regime complex for climate change. Perspect. Polit. 9, 7–23 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Falkner, R., Stephan, H. & Vogler, J. International climate policy after Copenhagen: towards a 'building blocks' approach. Glob. Policy 1, 252–262 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Biermann, F. et al. Earth system governance: a research framework. Int. Environ. Agreem. Polit. Law Econ. 10, 277–298 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Biermann, F. Earth System Governance: World Politics in the Anthropocene (MIT Press, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Aldy, J. E. & Stavins, R. N. (eds) Post-Kyoto International Climate Policy: Implementing Architectures for Agreement (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2009).

    Google Scholar 

  10. World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change (World Bank, 2010).

  11. Voß, J. & Simons, A. Instrument constituencies and the supply side of policy innovation: the social life of emissions trading. Environ. Polit. 23, 735–754 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Bulkeley, H. et al. Governing climate change transnationally: assessing the evidence from a database of sixty initiatives. Environ. Plann. C 30, 591–612 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Rayner, S. How to eat an elephant: a bottom-up approach to climate policy. Clim. Policy 10, 615–621 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Stewart, R. B., Oppenheimer, M. & Rudyk, B. A new strategy for global climate protection. Clim. Change 120, 1–12 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Rayner, S. & Caine, M. The Hartwell Approach to Climate Policy (Routledge, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Green, J. F., Sterner, T. & Wagner, G. A balance of bottom-up and top-down in linking climate policies. Nature Clim. Change 4, 1064–1067 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Dobson, A. Green Political Thought (Routledge, 2007).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Ostrom, E. Polycentric systems for coping with collective action and global environmental change. Glob. Environ. Change 20, 550–557 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Townshend, T. et al. How national legislation can help to solve climate change. Nature Clim. Change 3, 430–432 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Roberts, N. C. Public entrepreneurship and innovation. Rev. Policy Res. 11, 55–74 (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Stavins, R. et al. in IPCC Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change (eds Edenhofer, O. et al.) 1001–1082 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Abbott, K. W. Strengthening the transnational regime complex for climate change. Transnat. Environ. Law 3, 57–88 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Bulkeley, H. et al. Transnational Climate Change Governance (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  24. Abbott, K. W. The transnational regime complex for climate change. Environ. Plann. C 30, 571–590 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Hale, T. & Roger, C. Orchestration and transnational climate governance. Rev. Int. Org. 9, 59–82 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  26. Bulkeley, H. A., Broto, V. C. & Edwards, G. A. An Urban Politics of Climate Change: Experimentation and the Governing of Socio-Technical Transitions (Routledge, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Coalition of 96 partners steps up ambition for climate action. Climate and Clean Air Coalition (2014); http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=2796&ArticleID=10990&l=en

  28. Climate and Clean Air Coalition Annual Report September 2013–August 2014 (CCAC Secretariat, 2014); http://ccacoalition.org/docs/pdf/CCAC_Annual_Report_2013-2014.pdf

  29. Nachmany, M. et al. The GLOBE Climate Legislation Study: A Review of Climate Change Legislation in 66 Countries (GLOBE International and the Grantham Research Institute, London School of Economics, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Dubash, N. K., Hagemann, M., Höhne, N. & Upadhyaya, P. Developments in national climate change mitigation legislation and strategy. Clim. Policy 13, 649–664 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  31. Massey, E., Biesbroek, R., Huitema, D. & Jordan, A. Climate policy innovation: the adoption and diffusion of adaptation policies across Europe. Glob. Environ. Change 29, 434–443 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  32. Harris, P. G. What's Wrong with Climate Politics and How to Fix It (Polity Press, 2013).

    Google Scholar 

  33. Green, J. F. Rethinking Private Authority: Agents and Entrepreneurs in Global Environmental Governance (Princeton Univ. Press, 2013).

    Google Scholar 

  34. Paterson, M. Global Warming and Global Politics (Routledge, 1996).

    Google Scholar 

  35. Jordan, A., Huitema, D., van Asselt, H., Rayner, T. & Berkhout, F. (eds) Climate Change Policy in the European Union: Confronting the Dilemmas of Mitigation and Adaptation? (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010).

    Google Scholar 

  36. Jordan, A., van Asselt, H., Berkhout, F., Huitema, D. & Rayner, T. Climate change policy in the European Union: understanding the paradoxes of multi-level governing. Glob. Environ. Polit. 12, 43–66 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  37. Harrison, K. & Sundstrom, L. M. (eds) Global Commons, Domestic Decisions: The Comparative Politics of Climate Change (MIT Press, 2010).

    Google Scholar 

  38. Schaffrin, A., Sewerin, S. & Seubert, S. The innovativeness of national policy portfolios — climate policy change in Austria, Germany, and the UK. Environ. Polit. 23, 860–883 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  39. Jordan, A. & Huitema, D. Policy innovation in a changing climate: sources, patterns and effects. Glob. Environ. Change 29, 387–394 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  40. Jordan, A. & Huitema, D. Innovations in climate policy: conclusions and new directions. Environ. Polit. 23, 906–925 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  41. Lachapelle, E. & Paterson, M. Drivers of national climate policy. Clim. Policy 13, 547–571 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  42. Jordan, A., Wurzel, R. K. & Zito, A. The rise of 'new' policy instruments in comparative perspective: Has governance eclipsed government? Polit. Stud. 53, 477–496 (2005).

    Google Scholar 

  43. Ostrom, E. Coping with tragedies of the commons. Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci. 2, 493–535 (1999).

    Google Scholar 

  44. Ostrom, E. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

  45. Ostrom, V. in Polycentricity and Local Public Economies: Readings from the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis (ed. McGinnis, M. D.) 52–74 (Univ. Michigan Press, 1999).

    Google Scholar 

  46. Widerberg, O. & Pattberg, P. International cooperative initiatives in global climate governance: raising the ambition level or delegitimizing the UNFCCC? Glob. Policy 6, 45–56 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  47. Cole, D. H. Advantages of a polycentric approach to climate change policy. Nature Clim. Change 5, 114–118 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  48. Ostrom, E. A polycentric approach for coping with climate change. Ann. Econ. Financ. 15, 71–108 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  49. Rayner, T. & Jordan, A. The European Union: The polycentric climate policy leader? WIREs Clim. Change 4, 75–90 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  50. Newell, P., Pattberg, P. & Schroeder, H. Multiactor governance and the environment. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 37, 365–387 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  51. Moncel, R. & van Asselt, H. All hands on deck! Mobilizing climate change action beyond the UNFCCC. Rev. Eur. Community Int. Environ. Law 21, 163–176 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  52. Matisoff, D. C. & Edwards, J. Kindred spirits or intergovernmental competition? The innovation and diffusion of energy policies in the American states (1990–2008). Environ. Polit. 23, 795–817 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  53. Stadelmann, M. & Castro, P. Climate policy innovation in the south–domestic and international determinants of renewable energy policies in developing and emerging countries. Glob. Environ. Change 29, 413–423 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  54. Jacobs, D. Policy invention as evolutionary tinkering and codification: the emergence of feed-in tariffs for renewable electricity. Environ. Polit. 23, 755–773 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  55. Huitema, D. & Meijerink, S. V. (eds) Water Policy Entrepreneurs: A Research Companion to Water Transitions Around the Globe (Edward Elgar, 2009).

    Google Scholar 

  56. Boasson, E. L. & Wettestad, J. Policy invention and entrepreneurship: bankrolling the burying of carbon in the EU. Glob. Environ. Change 29, 404–412 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  57. Weaver, R. K. Automatic Government: The Politics of Indexation (Brookings Institution, 1988).

    Google Scholar 

  58. Howlett, M. Why are policy innovations rare and so often negative? Blame avoidance and problem denial in climate change policy-making. Glob. Environ. Change 29, 395–403 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  59. Benson, D. & Jordan, A. What have we learned from policy transfer research? Dolowitz and Marsh revisited. Polit. Stud. Rev. 9, 366–378 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  60. Mansbridge, J. The role of the state in governing the commons. Environ. Sci. Policy 36, 8–10 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  61. Aligică, P. D. Institutional Diversity and Political Economy: The Ostroms and Beyond 48–52 (Oxford Univ. Press, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  62. Aldy, J. E. The crucial role of policy surveillance in international climate policy. Climatic Change 126, 279–292 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  63. Ford, J. D., Berrang-Ford, L., Lesnikowski, A., Barrera, M. & Heymann, S. J. How to track adaptation to climate change: a typology of approaches for national-level application. Ecol. Soc. 18, 40 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  64. Öko-Institut, Cambridge Economics, AMEC, Harmelink Consulting & TNO Ex-post Quantification of the Effects and Costs of Policies and Measures CLIMA. A.3/SER/2010/0005 (European Commission, 2012).

  65. Mickwitz, P. in Environmental Policy in the EU: Actors, Institutions and Processes (eds Jordan, A. & Adelle, C.) 267–286 (Routledge, 2013).

    Google Scholar 

  66. Hildén, M., Jordan, A. & Rayner, T. Climate policy innovation: developing an evaluation perspective. Environ. Polit. 23, 884–905 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  67. Martens, M. Voice or loyalty? The evolution of the European Environment Agency (EEA). JCMS: J. Common Mark. Stud. 48, 881–901 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  68. AEA, ECOFYS, Fraunhofer & ICCS Quantification of the Effects on Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Policies and Measures: Final Report ENV. C.1/SER/2007/0019 (European Commission, 2009).

  69. Bernauer, T. & Böhmelt, T. National climate policies in international comparison: the climate change cooperation index. Environ. Sci. Policy 25, 196–206 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  70. Fransen, T. & Cronin, C. A Critical Decade for Climate Policy: Tools and Initiatives to Track Our Progress Working Paper (World Resources Institute, 2013); http://www.wri.org/publication/critical-decade-climate-policy

    Google Scholar 

  71. Dagnet, Y., Fei, T., Elliott, C. & Qiu, Y. Improving Transparency and Accountability in the Post-2020 Climate Regime: A Fair Way Forward Working Paper (World Resources Institute, 2014); http://go.nature.com/Lt8LEH

    Google Scholar 

  72. Aldy, J. E. & Pizer, W. A. Comparability of Effort in International Climate Policy Architecture Working Paper No. RWP14–006 (HKS, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  73. Auld, G., Mallett, A., Burlica, B., Nolan-Poupart, F. & Slater, R. Evaluating the effects of policy innovations: lessons from a systematic review of policies promoting low-carbon technology. Glob. Environ. Change 29, 444–458 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  74. Somanathan, E. et al. in IPCC Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change (eds Edenhofer, O. et al.) 1141–1205 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  75. Thompson, T. M., Rausch, S., Saari, R. K. & Selin, N. E. A systems approach to evaluating the air quality co-benefits of US carbon policies. Nature Clim. Change 4, 917–923 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  76. Huitema, D. et al. The evaluation of climate policy: theory and emerging practice in Europe. Policy Sci. 44, 179–198 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  77. Hildén, M. Evaluation, assessment, and policy innovation: exploring the links in relation to emissions trading. Environ. Polit. 23, 839–859 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  78. Harrison, N. et al. Enhancing Ambition through International Cooperation Initiatives (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  79. Beisheim, M. & Campe, S. Transnational public–private partnerships' performance in water governance: institutional design matters. Environ. Plann. C 30, 627 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  80. Benson, D., Jordan, A., Cook, H. & Smith, L. Collaborative environmental governance: Aare watershed partnerships swimming or are they sinking? Land Use Policy 30, 748–757 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  81. Chan, M. Partnerships for Sustainable Development: Emergence, Adaptation and Impacts in Global and Domestic Governance Contexts PhD Thesis, Vrije Univ., Amsterdam (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  82. Jenkins, J. A. & Patashnik, E. M. Living Legislation: Durability, Change, and the Politics of American Lawmaking (Univ. Chicago Press, 2012).

    Google Scholar 

  83. Jordan, A., Bauer, M. W. & Green-Pedersen, C. Policy dismantling. J. Eur. Public Policy 20, 795–805 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  84. Biesenbender, S. & Tosun, J. Domestic politics and the diffusion of international policy innovations: How does accommodation happen? Glob. Environ. Change 29, 424–433 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  85. Ostrom, E., Janssen, M. A. & Anderies, J. M. Going beyond panaceas. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 15176–15178 (2007).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  86. Ostrom, E. Understanding Institutional Diversity 283 (Princeton Univ. Press, 2005).

    Google Scholar 

  87. Fischer, F. Evaluating Public Policy (Cengage Learning, 2006).

    Google Scholar 

  88. Bäckstrand, K. Accountability of networked climate governance: the rise of transnational climate partnerships. Glob. Environ. Polit. 8, 74–102 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  89. Fankhauser, S., Gennaioli, C. & Collins, M. Do international factors influence the passage of climate change legislation? Clim. Policy http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2014.1000814 (2015).

  90. Aligica, P. D. & Sabetti, F. in Choice, Rules and Collective Action: The Ostrom's on the Study of Institutions and Governance (eds Ostrom, E., Ostrom, V., Sabetti, F. & Aligica, P. D.) 1–19 (ECPR Press, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  91. Hare, W., Stockwell, C., Flachsland, C. & Oberthür, S. The architecture of the global climate regime: a top-down perspective. Clim. Policy 10, 600–614 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  92. Rhodes, R. A. W. The new governance: governing without government. Polit. Stud. 44, 652–667 (1996).

    Google Scholar 

  93. Roger, C., Hale, T. & Andonova, L. How do domestic politics condition participation in transnational climate governance? BSG Working Paper (Univ. Oxford, Blavatnik School of Government, 2015).

    Google Scholar 

  94. Fuhr, H. & Lederer, M. Varieties of carbon governance in newly industrializing countries. J. Environ. Dev. 18, 327–345 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  95. Sartori, G. Concept misformation in comparative politics. Am. Polit. Sci. Rev. 64, 1033–1053 (1970).

    Google Scholar 

  96. Lieberman, E. S. Nested analysis as a mixed-method strategy for comparative research. Am. Polit. Sci. Rev. 99, 435–452 (2005).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

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).

Author information

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

Authors
  1. Andrew J. Jordan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dave Huitema
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mikael Hildén
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Harro van Asselt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Tim J. Rayner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jonas J. Schoenefeld
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Jale Tosun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Johanna Forster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Elin L. Boasson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

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.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew J. Jordan.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

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

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2725

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced 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