The local-level management of climate change: the case of urban passenger transportation in France

The reduction of GHG emissions is one of the largest and most pressing collective-action problems facing humanity. Addressing this transversal, trans-boundary policy challenge requires action at multiple scales of governance: from behavioral changes by individuals to modifications of local, national and international regulatory frameworks and decision-making processes. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this project draws on theories on collective action, institutional economics, multilevel governance, and indicators in decision making to analyze what appears to be an increasingly polycentric governance approach to achieving cross-scale action on GHG mitigation. This dissertation addresses the over-arching question of what governance changes are needed to deliver lasting GHG emissions reductions in the urban passenger transport sector in France? Achieving greenhouse gas mitigation is dependent not only on the ability of actors to coordinate action, but also on the information tools needed to integrate these issues into decision-making at multiple levels of government and across policy priorities. Thus, GHG mitigation must be linked as an often-complementary issue with existing policy priorities. The analyses and findings resulting from this dissertation have a number of contributions to make both to the theoretical literature as well as to general policy practice and the specific decision-making process in France in terms of transport, urban planning and climate governance.