The local governance of climate change: new tools to respond to old limitations in Esmeraldas, Ecuador

This article argues that climate change, seen as a socially constructed anticipation of natural disasters and a future-risk that plays out in present politics, is enabling the emergence of new modes of governance in cities of the global south. The article focuses on the process by which the city of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Local environment Vol. 18; no. 6; pp. 738 - 751
Main Authors:	Luque, Andres, Edwards, Gareth A.S., Lalande, Christophe
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Abingdon Routledge 01-07-2013 Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects:	Adaptation Adaptation to change Animal, plant and microbial ecology Applied ecology Biological and medical sciences Cities Climate change climate change adaptation Climatology. Bioclimatology. Climate change Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife Construction Disasters Earth, ocean, space Ecuador Environment and sustainable development Environmental policy Esmeraldas Exact sciences and technology External geophysics Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology General aspects Global warming Governance Government and politics informality institutional capacity local governance Meteorology Natural disasters Policy making Politics Population Poverty Strategy Urban development Urban planning vulnerability South America Ecuador America Poverty Environmental policy Tropical zone informality Vulnerability local governance Governance Sustainable development Esmeraldas Dynamical climatology Climate change institutional capacity Limitation climate change adaptation Adaptation Institutional analysis
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Summary:	This article argues that climate change, seen as a socially constructed anticipation of natural disasters and a future-risk that plays out in present politics, is enabling the emergence of new modes of governance in cities of the global south. The article focuses on the process by which the city of Esmeraldas, Ecuador, developed a Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Strategy. Within the context of climate change adaptation, Esmeraldas mobilised new discourses, stakeholders, and planning mechanisms to address pre-existing urban planning and development limitations. This discursively enabled the municipality's ongoing governance project by leveraging resources, creating consensus, and informing practice. Climate change adaptation thus became an important mechanism for engaging with local priorities, particularly those of the most vulnerable populations, and for bridging the gap between the formal world of policymaking and the reality of life in the city, which is more often structured by informality.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:	1354-9839 1469-6711
DOI:	10.1080/13549839.2012.716414