Think global—act local: the challenge of producing actionable knowledge on transboundary climate risks at the sub-national level of governance

In this study, researchers investigate whether local authorities can plausibly play an equally central role when it comes to transboundary climate risks. Three cases have been studied: Paris in France and the topic of migration and integration, Klepp in Norway and the topic of agriculture and livestock production, and the river harbors in the Upper Rhine region of France and the topic of freight transportation and river regulation. Even if the sub-national actors involved in the three cases showed strong interest in analyzing and addressing transboundary climate risks, it remains an open question whether such authorities can and should play an equally central role in addressing transboundary climate risks as they do in the case of local climate risks.

The authors of this paper therefore advocate a strong partnership between the different levels of governance, and between public and private-sector stakeholders, in adaptation to transboundary climate risk; a partnership that will have to be closer and more mutually binding than that already established in most countries to adapt to local climate risks. It is therefore crucial that national governments explicitly account for transboundary climate risks in their national adaptation agendas, and as part of their process in determining “ownership” of such risks, decide on the role sub-national authorities should play.