Challenges in Local Climate Action from Planning to Implementation: A Governance Model for Municipalities

Local governments play a crucial role in local climate action planning, fostering the active involvement of relevant institutions and organizations in tackling local climate challenges. However, despite the preparation of climate action plans by a relatively small number of local governments, progress in implementing these plans has been sluggish. This article presents the results of participatory research conducted with 13 municipalities, including both metropolitan and district municipalities, all actively engaged in addressing climate change issues. The research delves into the challenges encountered during the implementation of these prepared action plans. Utilizing a blend of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including group and telephone interviews, questionnaires, and participatory workshops, ensured the comprehensiveness of the research methodology. The findings underscore five common areas of difficulty faced by the participating municipalities: inadequate action -oriented knowledge, legal hurdles, staff -related and institutional challenges, financial limitations, and insufficient collaboration among institutions. Overcoming these challenges requires the establishment of a multi-actor governance mechanism to promote collective climate action.