SOUTH AFRICAN CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION POLITICS: URBAN GOVERNANCE PROSPECTS

Year 2019, Volume: 11 Issue: 1, 68 - 83, 01.01.2019

Palesa Mogano Ngoako Mokoele

Abstract

The combination of voluntary approaches to climate change policy and a growing
interest in local action on climate change has supported climate change politics
where multiple forms of governance, rather than a regulatory understanding of
governing, play a fundamental role in addressing the challenges. Intermediaries
such as business, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and communities
play a profound role towards climate change and governance in urban areas, and
subsequently offer the local government with an innovation potential. However,
urban areas are also a site of political struggle where climate change politics
manifest. Conflicting political ideologies create a problem in terms of climate
change adaptation policy formulation and implementation. The discussion
surrounding the notion of urban governance is intrinsically linked to discourses
about who has the responsibility to deliver climate change action to participate in
acts of governing. The paper argues that urban governance as a complementary
mechanism rather than a principal means of addressing climate change requires a
multi-stakeholder engagement to palliate climate politics that derail local actions
towards addressing climate change. The paper concludes that a multilevel and
urban governance approach has the potential to palliate the lack of knowledge
about climate change, thereby changing the entrenched ideologies to ensure
adaptability towards climate change. 

Keywords

Urban governance; Multi-level governance; Climate change adaptation

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