Conference Program

While diplomacy has long been viewed as an instrument of state foreign policy, paradiplomacy (i.e., international activities and linkages by sub-national units) has re-emerged in the global arena and in recent international relations literature. While most of the literature deals with Western cases, studies on other regions, including Southeast Asia (SEA), have started to surface as city governments in the region have increasingly been involved in international activities in areas of sustainable development, cultural exchange, border and transnational issues, among others. Several international local government networks – e.g., C40, ICLEI, etc. – have also facilitated knowledge sharing, program partnerships, and other projects between SEA cities, their foreign counterparts, and international organizations. In the Philippines, since 2019, the Quezon City local government has more actively sought to address sustainability partly through international activities, and it has been recognized internationally in terms of climate action. This study argues, by contextualizing the Kuznetsov’s (2015) framework on paradiplomacy, that Quezon City, aligned with the directives of the national government and its departments, has participated actively in paradiplomacy related to sustainable development through (1) the creation of a sustainable development affairs unit with the function of facilitating international linkages, (2) membership in international local government networks, (2) participation in international fora and knowledge-sharing on the issue area, and (3) international partnerships and connections other governments and organizations. Efforts of cities like Quezon City have also further been legitimized by the recognition of the national government of the crucial role of cities in attaining the UN SDGs.

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges which requires global governance. The main actors of the international climate regime are states, but due to their ineffective actions or even inactions in this area, subnational authorities play a greater role. Also climate governance by states alone is no longer sufficient to provide an adequate response to the climate crisis. In the United States cities are very active for several decades in implementing environmental policies. They have set their own GHG emission reduction targets, deployed their own tools and mechanisms to fight climate change in sectors like transportation, construction or clean energy. The have also become more engaged in global affairs by entering bilateral and multilateral climate agreements and have been committed to implementing policies to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, to which they are not party. By doing this they have shown their willingness to be considered as autonomous paradiplomatic actors in the global climate regime.

Goal of the paper is to provide a portrait of the paradiplomatic actions that American cities have undertaken around climate change, show different approaches and answear the main research question - how subnational actors like cities can participate in the climate regime and address the climate change challenge.

The IPCC conclusions are clear: the situation is dire, and the window of opportunity to keep a hospitable climate is narrowing. Current systems of global governance are showing their limits in the face of such threats, as the important lag in appropriate climate action illustrates. Moreover, our better understanding of the synergies between climate and societies is pushing for transformations embedding climate resilience within a sustainable and just human development.

As such actions are required at all levels, a new type of actor emerging on the international scene deserves attention: subnational governments. Cities and regions worldwide are indeed getting increasingly involved in global affairs, advocating through networks, acting through cooperation, signing treaties… A phenomenon coined as “paradiplomacy” by a growing but fragmented body of literature, that embodies a move towards more polycentric forms of global governance.

This research explores how the global involvement of subnational governments can contribute to the integrated approach of climate resilient development. By looking at the paradiplomatic activities of two cases – the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the Norwegian city of Oslo – it investigates actual contributions to key dimensions of climate resilience and socially just development. Through a comparative approach, it attempts to identify the factors shaping such contributions, highlighting some of the limits and potentials of a decentralized global climate action, and its integration with issues of socially just human development.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a multi-level and multi-stakeholder global development agenda that, since its adoption, has incorporated cities as key actors for its fulfilment. Since then, the diplomatic practice of cities has grown, and their public management incorporates international affairs as a transversal axis that has an impact on the well-being of citizens to achieve the SDGs, but also to be more competitive and insert themselves in the international arena. Therefore, this presentation analyses Paradiplomacy as a growing political practice in Latin America that is characterised by its autonomy from the diplomatic work of foreign ministries, and whose role is currently key to accelerate the fulfilment of the SDGs. Through a multiple case study that analyses the internationalisation of different Latin American cities, it aims to demonstrate that the internationalisation process of a city is viable if three conditions are met: 1.) an internationalisation strategy aligned with the SDGs is designed, 2.) informal agreements are established with cities that share common goals, and, 3.) they participate in various networks of cities through which they strengthen their local capacities through the dissemination of policies, experiences or knowledge via learning or emulation. This is irrespective of the size of their population or economy.