An integrated approach to the Paris climate Agreement: The role of regions and cities

Following the historic 2015 Paris Agreement aiming to limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100, 165 Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, representing 192 countries, have been submitted. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) detail each Party’s efforts to reduce domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. This paper, recognising the role of cities and regions in implementing the Paris Agreement, highlights the need for an integrated approach in implementing NDCs and long-term low GHG emission development strategies (LT-LEDS) and attempts to present key policy options for such an approach. First, the paper identifies the national and subnational co-ordination mechanisms in current NDCs, LT-LEDS and other subnational climate strategies and argues that the current processes of developing and implementing NDCs and LT-LEDS provide a unique opportunity for national governments to integrate innovative subnational climate action. The paper then assesses the potential for co-ordination of national, regional and local climate mitigation investment through the lens of the OECD Recommendation on Effective Public Investment Across Levels of Government adopted in 2014.