Governance of the climate agenda: complex, polycentric and fraught with imperfections

Abstract

This paper examines the complex, multilateral and polycentric governance of the climate agenda, as well as the knowledge management architecture around the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Noting the difficulty involved in this governance, the paper shows how it has been capable of making progress in combating the climate crisis. Climate action governance resembles a network of networks, a dense web of public, private, social, technological, knowledge-based and intersectoral initiatives. Ensuring compliance with agreements is, without question, complex in many respects, but to date it has proven to be the only viable path. Highly dependent on the global context, the green transition is an opportunity to make a qualitive leap forward, against the backdrop of an energy crisis triggered by the invasion of Ukraine.

Keywords

• climate crisis
• green transition
• multi-actor governance
• ipcc
• war in ukraine