Factories producing smoke

Climate South

Strengthening Non-state Climate Action in the Global South (ClimateSouth) is a 3-year project that aims to develop a rigorous social scientific evidence base to support effective climate action by cities, regional governments, and businesses in developing countries.

ClimateSouth is led by the African Centre for Technology Studies (Kenya), the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University (UK), the German Development Institute (Germany), and The Energy and Resources Institute (India), with financial support from the Volkswagen Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.

 

An essential piece of the climate challenge
In parallel to national governments, cities, companies, civil society groups, and other sub/non-state actors increasingly act to address climate change. While this shift represents an important breakthrough for a critical global challenge, it also faces a crucial barrier. Most of the world’s future emissions will come from developing countries, which will also experience the worst effects of climate change. Yet most non-state climate action is still concentrated in the Global North and the vast majority of transnational climate governance (TCG) initiatives are led by Northern actors. This balance will have to shift for TCG to realize its potential. Furthermore, we have only limited understanding of the impact and effectiveness of TCG initiatives, especially in the South.

 

Project objectives
This project aims to map, explain, and narrow this gap. In addition to global-level analysis, the project considers in detail sub/non-state action in India and Kenya. By collecting original, micro-level data in these countries, the project aims to understand the contextual factors that shape the outcomes of TCG “on the ground” in order to understand how sub/non-state actors in developing countries can best contribute to the global challenge of managing climate change. More detailed information in contained in the attached project proposal.

 

Project team

The role of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in sustainable development: Assessing the first three years
Blockchain for climate action tracking
Tom Hale speaks at WEF's Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils
Stepping up climate action in China and around the world: How local governments, the private sector, and civil society can help
Tom Hale at Global Climate Action Summit
New climate leadership - state and non-state drivers of worldwide ambition
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GLF Lisa Benjamin at Women's Energy and Climate Law Network (WECLN)
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Watch: Beyond gridlock in world politics?
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Beyond gridlock in world politics
Opening the door for bottom up actors to engage in the new climate regime
Displacement, Development, and Climate Change: International organizations moving beyond their mandates
The Evolving Climate Regime
Video | GEG Annual Lecture, The Imperative of a Global Climate Deal
Climate deal: does it matter?
GEG Researcher hosts UN panel at Summit on Post-2015 Development Agenda
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres to deliver GEG Annual Lecture on climate change
Galvanizing the Groundswell of Climate Actions at 2015 Climate Change Conference
Africa’s priorities in new climate governance
A workshop for climate actions in Lima
Oxford-NRDC Global Climate Action Platform Workshop Summary
Arunabha Ghosh’s Think Tank Receives Top Rankings
GLFs gathered for 6th Annual Colloquium in Princeton
GEG at the Challenges of Government Conference
GLF, Arunabha Ghosh, on the Transfer of Cleaner Coal Technologies
Energy and Climate Change Article Published by GLF, Arunabha Ghosh
Oxford Energy Task Force Releases Report: ‘Energy, Politics and Poverty’
Foreign Aid and Climate Change, with Nobel Prize Winner John Sulston
GLF, Pichamon Yeophantong, presents at the Salzburg Global Seminar
Sub- and non-state climate action: a framework to assess progress, implementation and impact
Journal articles
Beyond national climate action: the impact of region, city, and business commitments on global greenhouse gas emissions
Associate Professor Tom Hale
Journal articles
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Global climate action from cities, regions and businesses – 2019
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The Existential Politics of Climate Change
Associate Professor Tom Hale
Op-eds
Nairobi Workshop Report: Strengthening Sub/Non-State Climate Action in the Global South
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Who should be 2019’s climate champion?
Associate Professor Tom Hale
Op-eds
The role of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in sustainable development: Assessing the first three years
Political Theory and Global Climate Action: Recasting the Public Sphere
ClimateSouth Nairobi Workshop
Launch of “Displacement, Development, and Climate Change: International Organizations Moving Beyond their Mandate”
GEG International Political Economy Workshop
Climate Engineering in a multi-polar world. Why CE will be an issue for global policy-making