Project background

Cities in developed and developing countries have emerged as critical actors in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to climate change impacts. Although the COVID-19 crisis has disrupted habits, short-term economic development and carbon emissions, it is less clear whether it represents a critical juncture beyond which cities will shift towards enduring low-carbon and climate-resilient pathways. This study investigates cities as potential drivers of green and climate-resilient recovery, seeking to identify factors that influence whether cities embark on low-carbon and resilient pathways, return to prior unsustainable pathways, or backtrack on climate commitments and head to unsustainable pathways. By comparing climate commitments of cities in developed and developing countries, we aim to challenge conventional paradigms about development and recovery from crises which often entail investments that lock-in high-carbon and unsustainable development. Our aim is to shed light on those factors that can be harnessed – and actions that can be taken – by individual cities and networks of cities, to support a green and climate-resilient recovery.

Project partners

• The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA)
• The German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)
• The University of Middlesex (MDX)
• The Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford (BSG)

The research team will jointly elaborate on the conceptual framing undergirding the project’s analysis, and jointly develop data collection procedures, co-author written outputs, and coorganize events. Close collaboration on all Parts between all partners, will ensure that outputs are closely aligned.

In addition, the project will engage collaborators in the Earth System Governance Working Group on Economic Downturn and Climate Action (ESG-EDCA), and partners in the existing VWF funded ClimateSouth project. Pending on definitive case selection in the research procedure we will engage local partners to collaborate on case-studies. We particularly envisage the following collaborations:

• McGill University (McG) as an external partner, to contribute a city case study in North America.
• The Africa Research and Impact Network (an impact network established to harness project spinoff and promote research and policy dialogue across Africa) to contribute an in-depth city case study. Moreover, we will seek close collaboration with ARIN to convene policy dialogues that bring together the private sector and governments at the city-level in Kenya/Africa.
• TERI School of Advanced Studies (TERI-SAS) to contribute to a city case study in India.