Governing climate mitigation in a megacity: Tapping opportunities in the multi-level governance system?

Abstract

Given its sheer complexity and multi-level nature, climate change presents a new governance challenge for urban authorities and actors. By zooming in on the megacity of Jakarta, Indonesia, this paper aims at providing a more nuanced understanding of the forming of urban climate governance in a particular geographical context outside the elite roster of climate frontrunners. Our paper shows that Jakarta’s participation in the transnational cities networks has provided a platform for the city to sustain its climate capacity and agenda. However, although the decentralized system of climate framework allows local cities to navigate their climate responses, limited authority over certain climate-related sectors may remain to confine the city government’s actions. Our case study of Jakarta reveals a fact that the path toward low carbon development is subject to the political dynamics at the provincial and national levels that often diverts its policy from achieving the climate goal.