Exploring the contribution of paradiplomacy to climate resilient development : the cases of Oslo and Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Abstract

The IPCC conclusions are clear: the situation is dire, and the window of opportunity to keep a hospitable climate is narrowing. Current systems of global governance are showing their limits in the face of such threats, as the important lag in appropriate climate action illustrates. Moreover, our better understanding of the synergies between climate and societies is pushing for transformations embedding climate resilience within a sustainable and just human development.

As such actions are required at all levels, a new type of actor emerging on the international scene deserves attention: subnational governments. Cities and regions worldwide are indeed getting increasingly involved in global affairs, advocating through networks, acting through cooperation, signing treaties… A phenomenon coined as “paradiplomacy” by a growing but fragmented body of literature, that embodies a move towards more polycentric forms of global governance.

This thesis explores how the global involvement of subnational governments can contribute to the integrated approach of climate resilient development. By looking at the paradiplomatic activities of two cases – the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the Norwegian city of Oslo – this research investigates actual contributions to key dimensions of climate resilience and socially just development. Through a comparative approach, it attempts to identify the factors shaping such contributions, highlighting some of the limits and potentials of a decentralized global climate action, and its integration with issues of socially just human development.