Global values and environmental governance: policies for sustainable urban development within the New York City-region

Global environmental governance consists of a series of responses and manifestations of individuals, groups, and networks that attempt to influence the development processes of the dominant regime. Through the identification of values and the creation of norms, sub-state actors and non-state actors are able to define a world-wide dialogue that results in the creation and implementation of policies that seek to halt and to reverse the impacts of climate change. While the concern over the climate crisis is global in nature, the policy responses are increasingly local. This paper analyzes how local policies reflect global norms to address an international problem. Looking to theories of collective behavior and political economy, I analyze how a cosmopolitan citizenry responds to the problem climate change. Selective indicators to measure the policies by local authorities in the New York metropolitan area reveal that political actors at different of leadership levels (local and global) and of different leadership types (governmental authorities and civil society) are responding to the mounting demands by democratic citizens to devise and to implement comprehensive policies for sustainable urban development. Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby John Ottomanell