World Bank Document

THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS, GOVERNANCE, AND URBAN PLANNING ■ 151

income countries or where urban governance capacity is virtually nonexistent
will therefore be limited.

Built environment

1. Energy conservation is a critical local “hook” for municipal action on cli-
   mate change, and the built environment is a key sector in which such ap-
   proaches can be put into action. Signifi cant opportunities exist to pursue
   this agenda, especially in the commercial sector.


2. Municipal governments have the capacity to go beyond national building
   standards and to adopt additional means of regulating energy use in the
   built environment. Forms of “soft ” regulation can be eff ective in this regard.


3. Municipal governments have various means of enabling action by stake-
   holders and communities in reducing energy use in the built environ-
   ment through the provision of information, recognition, and reward for
   achievement.


4. Stakeholders outside local government are important drivers of action in
   this sector. Th is is particularly the case in the commercial built environment.
   Potential is seen for further partnership work and for action on climate
   change mitigation and adaptation in the absence of signifi cant municipal
   capacity for climate governance.

Transportation

1. In the transportation sector, action on climate change benefi ts from a strong
   link to issues high on the agenda of rapidly expanding cities—air pollution,
   congestion, sprawl—but is reliant on the planning and governance capacity
   of municipalities as well as the availability of funding from national govern-
   ments or external agencies.


2. Municipalities have been able to use various forms of regulation, predomi-
   nantly concerning effi ciency and emissions standards but also relating to be-
   havioral change, to address transport issues in ways that could have benefi ts
   for GHG emissions.


3. Municipal provision of low-carbon transport infrastructures is another key
   means through which local governments can combine local priorities and
   climate change agendas.


4. Our cases also suggest that a number of incentives are available that munici-
   palities can deploy to achieve behavioral change, though these are underdevel-
   oped compared with regulatory and service provision modes of governing.