264 ■ CITIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE
a key component to the development of appropriate city actions. Th is is espe-
cially true in cities in developing countries where international donors, local
scholars, and civil society groups can help advance the climate agenda at a
rapid pace. It is clear that the ability of local governments to gather resources
and to muster the legislative power needed to devise and enforce plans is a
crucial factor for successful climate change governance. Th e commissioned
paper “Cities and Climate Change: Th e Role of Institutions, Governance, and
Planning for Mitigation and Adaptation by Cities” by Bulkeley and others
points out that local governments can govern climate change mitigation in
four ways: self-governing (reducing GHGs from municipal actions and activ-
ities), governing through legislation, governing by provisioning, and govern-
ing by enabling.
Th e rising interest of local governments in assuming more responsibility on
the issue of climate change governance is a positive trend for cities around the
globe. Nevertheless, policy debates oft en overemphasize the role of municipal
governments and fail to take into account the limited ability of municipal gov-
ernments to induce substantial levels of emissions reductions. Th is limitation
is due in part to structural factors in cities, such as the city’s dominant role as a
facilitator rather than an actor, the provisioning of municipal utility services by
the private sector, and deteriorating fi nancial performance.
Local governments, nongovernmental organizations, and other urban insti-
tutions (including state and national governments, scholarly communities, and
local stakeholders) have their own impacts on fostering climate-resilient cities.
Although the role of municipal government is absolutely necessary for imple-
menting urban climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, it is not
the only responsible institution. It is evident that the most successful model
for building urban climate resilience is a multilevel system of governance. Key
issues associated with multilevel climate change governance include how to
integrate a city’s climate agenda into existing institutions (and vice versa), how
to allocate responsibilities and actions across scales of governance in ways that
allow capacity and resources to match policy infl uence, and how to foster col-
laboration and communication between various organizations and stakehold-
ers. Th e paper by Bulkeley and others, mentioned earlier, as well as “Governance
and Climate Change” by Gore, Robinson, and Stren and “Viral Governance and
Mixed Motivations” by Warden, address these issues with several examples, the
last two papers focusing on Canadian and U.S. cities.
A third theme is that of governmental policy frameworks and the position-
ing of policy instruments (economic, fi scal, regulatory, information and vol-
untary, and the like) into the prevailing socioeconomic and cultural contexts
of cities. Th e ability to formulate sound, implementable policies and to ensure
eff ective, effi cient results both relate to urban capacity and context. In “Adapt-