Climate governance by experiment? Exploring local climate initiatives through transition theory

Sammanfattning: The response to climate change in cities has proliferated over the last few decades, and progressive climate action at the local level is now ubiquitous. More specifically, local climate action often comes in the shape of ‘climate change experiments’, radical innovations at the local level designed to respond to the imperatives of mitigating and adapting to climate change in the city. This thesis explores the phenomenon of local climate experiments in order to better understand how they shape climate governance and low-carbon transitions. The objective is operationalized by creating a heuristic framework injected with transition theory discourse and applying this on the Swedish Climate Investment Programme (KLIMP). The study finds that through KLIMP, the Swedish Government has actively engaged in the trend of experimental governance and helped vitalise the local response to climate change. KLIMP is both indicative of this trend and a means by which it is being realised. Investing in and stimulating local climate experiments holds great potential in low-carbon transitions. However, the bias towards economic rationality, market-based logics and technological innovation that permeates KLIMP is seen as problematic since it narrows the transition pathways considered possible and tends to side-line ‘soft’ policy measures such as behaviour and social change, while at the same time serves to protect incumbent regimes and detract attention from the fossil fuel burning problem. The study concludes that notwithstanding showing great promise, local climate experiments are not the silver bullet, but rather one (albeit very important) policy measure in low-carbon transitions. The state still holds considerable clout in climate policy and governance and can with different types of policy influence the landscape, empower or destabilise regimes, and protect or discourage niche innovation, and thus requires explicit attention in order to understand and catalyse broad systemic low-carbon transitions.