Local and Regional Climate Change Mitigation in the Financial Crisis : Burden or Opportunity?

Abstract to the track Responding to the Financial Crisis: Opportunities for Ecological Transition from/within a Colapsed Economy There is a growing awareness in cities, regions and nations all over the world of an ongoing global warming and its effects. The industrialized world has undertaken the task to lower the green house gas emissions, and even stronger commitments to that goal may be taken in future agreements. Opponents argue that this implies restrictions that threaten economic development; others argue that climate change mitigation can be looked upon as an opportunity to enhance national and regional economic development and the creation of new jobs. In times of economic decline, innovations in climate friendly technology are sometimes put forward by national and local governments as an appropriate cure. This follows the line of argumentation found in the ecological modernization discourse. To make it short - economic growth and the creation of new jobs is a challenge that has become top priority for cities and regions in the current state of economic crisis. How does this combine with high ambitions in combating climate change? Is it possible to make a win-win solution out of these challenges? Based on two Swedish case studies, we identify two different, locally based solutions to this challenge. In both cases networking on different scales and across sectors is part of the strategy. In one of the cases the city is very active in using a number of multi-scalar networks as platforms both for advertising climate friendly production and boosting itself as a forerunner in climate mitigation. Although not really boosting its ambition to contribute to climate change mitigation the other city is also involved in networking, particularly at the regional level. The case studies show that different geographies, different historical paths of development, and the presence of key actors together determine the way climate mitigation and climate friendly production are combined with growth strategies in the two cities. In what way the current financial crisis will affect the fairly ambitious climate mitigation policies of the two cities is too early to say, but will be hypothetically discussed in the concluding part of the paper.Globala klimatförändringar och lokal politi