Citiscope

PARIS — The public outpouring on behalf of a global agreement to halt the worst effects of climate change has led to a summit of superlatives at the COP 21 conference slated to wrap up at the end of this week in Paris.

Less than three months after what was said to be the largest gathering of heads of state and government ever under one roof — at U. N. Headquarters, to agree on the new Sustainable Development Goals — that number was exceeded in Paris when leaders from 196 countries gathered under the auspices of the U. N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. The talks’ sidelines have been no less stacked with luminaries, including philanthropists, corporate executives and even Hollywood stars.

[See: All of Citiscope’s coverage of the COP 21 process from a cities angle]

Meanwhile, mayors, governors, premiers and city councilors — those known here as “subnational leaders” — have been a notably visible part of what one speaker called the “30-ring circus” that is COP 21. California Governor Jerry Brown has arguably been the leading subnational figure from the English-speaking world, putting in numerous daily public appearances and displaying a willingness to speak off the cuff about how local, state and provincial leaders can act quicker than the “knuckleheads” at the national legislative level, as he called the U. S. Congress.

Indeed, Jay Inslee, governor of the U. S. state of Washington, said local leaders have outshone their national counterparts at COP 21. He cited bold commitments to actions to a spectrum of initiatives, including the Compact of Mayors, the Compact of States and Regions, the Covenant of Mayors, the Under 2 MOU, the Lima-Paris Action Agenda and the Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action.

[See: With Paris City Hall Declaration, world mayors throw down gauntlet on climate]

“We rebel against the term subnational — we think we’re supernationals,” he said to laughs at an event hosted by the Pacific Coast Coalition.

But what motivates such strong action on climate change? On the one hand, there is the immediacy of showing local-level political will. “You are essential to this effort,” U. N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told local leaders at COP 21. “Your example can inspire national governments to act more boldly.”

On the other hand, policymakers today probably won’t be in office when the fullest impact of their actions — or inactions — will be felt. French President François Hollande pointed to this issue while speaking Friday at Paris’s city hill, during the Climate Summit for Local Leaders. “We’re acting for a life that we will not see,” he said, “and what is nobler in politics than non-interest?”

[See: Five things cities want to see in a Paris climate agreement]

Humiliation factor

For some mayors, going green has been good business and good politics. Certainly this has been the case for Vancouver’s Gregor Robertson, whose city has the fastest-growing economy in Canada, a title it expects to hold for the next five years.

Operating in British Columbia, one of the few jurisdictions anywhere with a carbon tax, Vancouver City Hall vigorously fought against proposed pipelines to the Port of Vancouver from the Alberta tar sands. “We break the myth that economy and climate action are at odds with one another,” Robertson said.

Vancouver’s brand value is estimated at nearly USD 23 billion, after all, much of it is staked on progressive environmental and quality-of-life policy priorities. City authorities have calculated that an oil pipeline to the port would put 30,000 tourism jobs at risk in the event of a spill.

For others, especially coastal, low-lying and island cities, the reason to act is existential. As some countries face the risk of outright extinction — the Marshall Islands, for example, has been held up as an exemplar at COP 21 — their cities do, too. Sea-level rise and increased risk of natural disaster has made urban areas the front line of climate resilience.

[See: Will Habitat III note the unique urbanization of small island states?]

Finally, there is the fear factor: What if a city — or, more pointedly, that city’s mayor — gets it wrong, perhaps underestimating a potential threat?

To take two U. S. examples, Atlanta is an inland city and thus arguably less at risk than, say, Miami, the other leading city in the country’s southeast. But for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, not acting now, only to see a cataclysmic event happen later on, could prove costly to one’s personal and political reputation — what he called the “humiliation factor”.

[See: On climate action, cities need a way to learn from each other’s mistakes]

“If you’re not in the right place on climate action historically, you are going to be ripped apart,” Reed warned at an event hosted by the German Marshall Fund. “People are merciless.”

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