Climate governance: a multi-level approach to a smart and low carbon mobility
Author: Jaqueline Nichi, jaque.nichi@gmail.com
Department: Institute of Philosophy and the Humanities
University: University of Campinas, Brazil
Supervisor: Jurandir Zullo
Year of completion: 2023
Language of dissertation: Portuguese
Keywords:
Urban Transportation
, Smart Cities
, Climate Change
, Environmental Governance
Areas of Research:
Environment and Society
, Sociotechnics, Sociological Practice
, Sociology of Risk and Uncertainty
Abstract
Cities represent structural spaces when it comes to climate change since they concentrate most of the world's population, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions. Among the various challenges, one of the main ones is urban mobility. The formulation of public policies in this sector implies a governmental and innovation agenda that generates intelligent solutions based on technology. But how far do these innovations actually contribute to low-carbon mobility solutions? The main objective of this research is to try to overcome the limitations of the current model of public policies by integrating the environment, technology, and society. It aims to understand the networks and institutional arrangements in smart cities. To investigate this correlation with public policies in the sector, this research is based on the case study of the city of São Paulo, with a focus on road passenger transport, from three theoretical axes: i) multi-actor and multilevel climate governance, ii) sustainable sociotechnical transition, and iii) epistemic communities in public policies. All this to understand: a) what is the role of mobility technologies in the mitigation and adaptation agenda in the city of São Paulo? And b) which are the actors that structure the sustainable mobility policy in the municipality, and how do they articulate with the climate agenda? Based on an interdisciplinary approach, 22 semi-structured interviews were conducted with public and private managers, and with civil society organizations relevant to this issue. The data was interpreted through Content Analysis (CA) method and data triangulation using the QSR NVivo software. The results reveal three paths to integrate good multilevel governance into climate public policies that demand the intensive use of technology, as in the case of the mobility sector: 1. Decarbonization of the transport sector requires concerted action among levels and actors – including technical experts, who gain more relevance in smart city governance – from planning; through technology transfer between modes, and investments in energy efficiency to meet the climate goals of the Paris Agreement; 2. Social participation and consensus among actors can positively influence the public agenda as long as the interest of the majority is in line with demands of society; and 3. Isolated solutions tend to generate opposition with the greater social participation, requiring integrated and long-term policies that are not interrupted at each change of governmental management. With the characterization of these new social and political arrangements in smart cities, it is possible to encompass more effective climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies at the local level with the proposition of a governance model based on the results.
