Evaluating Local Climate Policy: Municipal Action Plans through the Lens of Resilience and Environmental Justice

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Authors

Graham David Diedrich 

Abstract

In the US, local governments are increasingly crucial in driving climate action. Drawing upon Tang et al. (2010) and Baker et al. (2012), this study assesses nine local climate action plans in the state of Michigan. It introduces a comprehensive framework, integrating climate resilience and environmental justice (EJ) indicators to evaluate plan content. Despite recognizing global climate concerns, qualitative content analysis shows that plans lack localized analyses and actions, hampering planning due to insufficient data, minimal coordination, limited funds, and finite policy options. Key aspects like equitable resource distribution, environmental burdens, and community engagement are often overlooked. Without addressing these, local governments lack the tools to effectively implement just and climate-oriented policies.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31223/X55X1N

Subjects

Environmental Studies

Keywords

climate action plan, environmental justice, municipal government, city government, urban climate policy, policy evaluation

Dates

Published: 2024-03-07 11:41

Last Updated: 2024-03-07 19:41

License

CC BY Attribution 4.0 International

Additional Metadata

Data Availability (Reason not available):
The data supporting the findings of this research are openly available and can be accessed through the public repository on Figshare (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.25321282). The dataset is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), allowing for the unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction of the data in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This commitment to open data aligns with the principles of transparency and reproducibility, fostering collaboration and enabling researchers, policymakers, and the public to engage with and validate the results presented in the manuscript.

Conflict of interest statement:
There are no competing interest that could be perceived to bias this work.