To Act or Not to Act : Muncipial Authority over Green House Gas Mitigation

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is twofold. Firstly, it is a feasibility study intended to contribute tofurther research on the municipal authority to mitigate green house gas emissions. This will bedone by studying the municipal authority on green house gas mitigation measures in threeSwedish municipalities. To fulfil the purpose the following questions are set to be answered.What is the municipal authority over green house gas mitigation measures in these threemunicipalities?- What is the formal ability of municipalities in Sweden to act on GHG mitigation?- What measures do these three municipalities use to mitigate GHG emissions?- How do the municipalities consider their climate authority?The study focused on measures within three sectors; traffic and transport; energy, andinformation and out-reaches. Transport and energy make up the main sources of GHGemissions in the municipalities, and information was a common measure.4 categories of authority were developed; Legal authority, Economic authority, Climatecompetence and Collaborations, this to get a picture of what influenced climate authority. Theidea for this came from previous research that involved aspects similar to the categories. Theresult showed that municipal climate authority is quite relative, the categories are relevant, butpolitical will and ambitions on tackling climate change are decisive. In the transport sector themunicipal authority was restricted due to the authority of other actors. The authority in theenergy sector was limited because national legislation had precedence.The municipal climate authority is considered strong within its own organisation, themunicipal role as wide and involving many responsibilities. The role was described as widerthan the municipal authority. Most of the climate measures are directed towards themunicipality’s own organisation, the premises of the municipality and the services it provides.Outside the municipal organisation and services, but within its geographic unit, in the specificmeasures developed in this study, the climate authority was weaker and mainly exercisedthrough collaborations. The municipalities are not using their climate authority in full. Byimplementing measures like climate considerations in public procurement, their authoritycould be improved.