UC Irvine

What explains city-level greenhouse gas emissions reduction on a global-scale, and what lessons does this hold for global climate change governance? This dissertation analyzes emissions change in 330 cities across 49 countries during 2005-2013, and finds through statistical analysis that strongly associated with emissions reductions are the local concentration of environmental management consultancies, city memberships in environmentally-oriented transnational municipal networks and the stringency of national climate change regulation. Qualitative inquiry reveals that the former two city-level mechanisms affect emissions reductions via cost-minimizing energy performance contracts and related climate policy services and expertise. It also finds that the carbon market, specifically the EU emissions trading system and Clean Development Mechanism, does not achieve the emissions reductions for which it was designed.