Achieving low carbon city governance (… in Durban)

Presentation to ASSaf Low Carbon City group6 October 2010Glen Robbins

School of Development StudiesUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal

robbinsg@ukzn.ac.za

Introducing the term …

• Governance – a term widely used in public discourses– “Land Bank characterised by bad governance”– “King II corporate governance report causes a stir”– “Communities call for reform of municipal governance

processes”– “Financial crisis a result of lack of sound international

governance” • There is much pre-occupation with demands for

“better governance” and ongoing concern at “governance shortfalls” that seem pervasive whether they be local, national or international

The context• The term has entered the public discourse since the 1980s• The essence of the concept was informed by a critique of processes

which focused on structural reform without looking at the qualitative aspects and the relational dimensions of that reform

• Eg Western-style democracy requires regular elections and a parliamentary system …

• How would this meaningfully change the scope for individuals, groups and organisations to interact with institutions in developing societal rules that govern behaviour of individuals, groups, organisations and the state – both in terms of the content of such processes and in terms of the character of the processes.

• Good governance, it was argued, would deliver processes of societal rule making and societal interactions that would secure maximum input and commitment from the widest possible range of stakeholders and be responsive in content to particular value formulation.

• Contextually, it should be noted that the term became popularised during an era where there was a concerted drive to limit the role of the state (eg structural adjustment programmes) and recraft the role of the state as only one of a set of societal institutions that needed to collaborate to secure societal progress.

Some governance definitions• The UNDP describes governance as, “the system of values, polices

and institutions by which a society manages its economic, political and social affairs through interactions within and among the state, civil society and private sector. It is the way a society organizes itself to make and implement decisions – achieving mutual understanding, agreements and action …Governance, including its social, political and economic dimensions, operates at every level of human enterprize, be it the household, village, municipality, nation, region or globe.” (UNDP, 2004 as cited in Fakier et al, 2005:4)

• The World Bank defines governance as, “… the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised for the common good. This includes (i) the process by which those in authority are selected, monitored and replaced, (ii) the capacity of the government to effectively manage its resources and implement sound policies, and (iii) the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions amongst them.” (http://go.worldbank.org/MKOGR258V0 accessed on 9 June 2010)

Some of the critiques• Seen as watering down of agendas of structural change

by opening up decision making to a multitude of interests, often with a limited social base

• Suggestions that it is excessively influenced by the confluences of particular values of the moment with no defined standard

• Concern at approach which sees governance choices as technical adaptions rather than the product of struggles and contestation

• Risk of focus on superficial interactions between groups, processes and structures without understanding underlying dynamics

• Often presented as state-centric and not about (a) questioning the core role of the state and (b) creating a framework for influencing how other actors need to operate independent of the state.

Governance and the urban sphere• The impact of urbanisation: “Most of the costs

associated with rapid urban growth are not caused by the growth itself but rather by the inability of national and local institutions to adapt to the new challenges that this growth presents.” (Satterthwaite, 2007a:viii)

• The bulk of the debate has been about what Corfee-Morlot (2009) refers to as vertical governance reform around the relationship between the emerging local sphere of government and other spheres of government.

• However, in recent years the horizontal governance dimension has been the focus of much attention in terms of the dynamics of interaction between a local state and its citizenry

• The interaction of vertical and horizontal governance processes are particularly relevant in South Africa where local level protest is so widespread over failures on both axes.

Carbon and local governance• Dominant discourses tend to be around global-level

governance processes and their interaction with the national sphere.

• Local sphere often perceived as the little more than an important implementing agent on global protocols.

• However, it is often at the local levels that the greatest sensitivities to unsustainable carbon loads are felt and where people and organisations are most inclined to conflict or collaboration over social change.

• Initial responses to govern GHG emissions through targeting have proved problematic at the local level– Confusion over powers & technical challenges

• More recent focus on adaptive responses as climate change effects are felt whilst exploring processes to slow emissions growth or even reverse it via a multitude of strategies. Both require governance innovation at along the vertical and horizontal axes.

Local government must be at the core• “Effective local governance is more important in the

lives of most people than good national or global governance (although achieving effective government institutions in each locality often requires changes in government at provincial/state, national and global levels). … For instance, it is difficult to see how biodiversity can be protected, malaria, AIDS and most other diseases reduced, and greenhouse-gas emissions kept down without effective and representative local governments. Most global environmental problems will be resolved only through the aggregate impact of actions undertaken by local governments – yet local governments are hardly ever given much consideration in global conferences and global action plans.” (Satterthwaite, 2007a: 72)

Governance in Durban• Present formal government arrangements a major

improvement on apartheid past with strong foundations supporting citizen centred governance processes.

• However, confluence of political and economic interests as well as inequality and information asymmetries often compromise scope for meaningful governance processes.

• Tendency to revert to exercise of “hard power” in form of regulation, policy directives and legal threats over use of “soft power” instruments of collaborative planning, consensus building, shared responsibilities.

• Political arrogance combined with technocratic modes of operation by-pass societal engagement and are likely to raise social tensions.

An agenda for a LCC in Durban• Functionality of local government is a major advantage as is technical

capacity and existing platform of environment-related policies.• However, carbon emission reduction and climate adaption strategies require

mobilising of a wide range or societal actors behind a common set of commitments.

• To avoid the burden of trade-offs that would arise with this being borne disproportionately by particular societal groups (often the poor) governance processes must be negotiated through deliberative processes.

• The local state must work with societal partners to:– Share information– Build coalitions around collaborative action (within local government, across local

government and between government and other social actors) … to also raise the political prominence of the issues

• Different spheres of action• Responsiveness to diverse needs (sea-level threatens tourism but also settlement of

vulnerable groups)• Explore different futures and action necessary to realise these

– Secure necessary resources in a manner informed by imperatives to counteract inequalities (both present and inter-generational)

– Build institutional and regulatory frameworks to be climate-change attuned – within and beyond local government (including in business organisations, tertiary institutions, civil society etc)

– Demonstration role of state is critical in supporting behavioral change

• “. …In practice, this needs competent, effective local governance structures ... There are many factors constraining the development of appropriate governance structures, or limiting their possible actions to address problems of poverty or environmental degradation – especially where these raise costs and limit choices for politically powerful enterprises and populations. Good governance will set limits on where industries can locate … on which local water sources they can tap and which wastes they can dispose of … will have measures to promote and support the needed supply of land for new housing with infrastructure and services … will need to set limits on how much individuals can drive automobiles or fly … will ensure “the rule of law”, through which the rights and entitlements of everyone (including low-income groups) and “the public good” are protected, and that effective democratic processes are in place, including the values this implies, such as accountability to citizens and transparency in the generation and use of public resources. For urban areas, adaptation to the direct and indirect impacts of climate change also depends, perhaps more than anything else, on competent, capable urban governments that work with and are accountable to low-income groups. Initial analyses of climate-change related hazards and vulnerabilities for cities show how it is poorer groups who are more at risk and face larger impacts...” (Satterthwaite, 2007a: 70-71)

Some specific actions

• Alber and Kern (2008) propose roles for local government:– Self-governing – how the municipality behaves– Governing through enabling – how it supports change in terms of

policy, skills, information– Governing through provision – investment in assets to help

change– Governing by authority – setting rules and enforcing them

• What this also requires is a commitment to processes to open up processes of local government to engagement of other stakeholders and supporting their capacity to be partners.