Driving Forces behind Subnational Actions in Addressing Climate Change Issues

• In Event: Subnational Climate Policy

Abstract

International Relations (IR) scholars have examined how the international negotiation process and domestic politics interact to understand international cooperation, conceptualized as a two-level game. A two-level approach focuses on how a country’s executive interacts not only with one’s foreign counterpart at the international level but also with domestic political actors such as legislatures and interest groups at the domestic level. However, this raises concerns. A two-level approach conceptualizes the domestic political process as too simple; it does not consider the actions of domestic political actors at different levels and those who employ policies at the domestic level. In other words, the disengagement within domestic politics may generate incomplete understanding. Hence, this project aims to disaggregate the domestic political process and examine how domestic political actors at different levels, especially subnational governments, contribute to climate change policies.

This project explores what drives subnational actions in addressing climate change issues as the initial step. This project employs a data set on climate change policy enactment by subnational governments to explore the relationship between climate vulnerability and climate change policy implementation. I argue that climate vulnerability, characterized by susceptibility to the negative impacts of climate change, motivates subnational governments to address climate change issues independently. As weather-related disasters become more frequent, individuals are likely to revise their perceptions and assessments of climate change. I argue that this shift in perception drives subnational governments to respond more actively to frequent weather disasters, aligning with the evolving demands of their constituents. In response to these challenges, subnational governments are expected to implement adaptation strategies if they face economic damage from weather disasters and to adopt mitigation measures contingent on the size of the renewable and alternative energy market.

Author

• Ji Soo Yoo, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign