Climate change governance: Emerging legal and institutional frameworks for developing countries

Abstract

Climate change is a relatively new governance area in which policy and practice tend to precede theory or advance simultaneously. Establishing effective legal and institutional frameworks is crucial to its management. This chapter conducts a comparative analysis of the climate change governance frameworks of four developing countries, namely, the Philippines, Mexico, South Africa, and Kenya, all of which have enacted or propose climate change legislations, strategies, and related institutional structures and have decentralized governments. These are contrasted with the UK, the first to globally enact a framework climate change law. The results indicate that despite being time-and resource consuming, enactment of stand-alone framework climate change legislation is preferred over piecemeal amendments to relevant laws. Another key finding is the overwhelming adoption of mainstreaming as an important approach to managing climate change. Moreover, both adaptation and mitigation are considered equally important, mitigation being seen as a function of adaptation. This disabuses the notion that developing countries do not or should not focus much on mitigation. Institutionally, establishment of (often) a new high-level crosssectoral climate change coordinating institution domiciled in the office of and/or chaired by the head of state is common. Such institutions offer general policy guidance and are supported at lower levels by an advisory panel of experts and a technical administrative secretariat. Procedures to ensure clear coordination between the central and devolved governments are in many instances outlined. Climate finance sources and management strategies are mixed. Sharing of experiences and strong support for national climate change legislations under ongoing post-Kyoto negotiations are recommended.