Close to home: subnational strategies for climate compatible development

The document argues that climate compatible development is won or lost at the subnational level, where local actors face intense pressure from climate extremes but possess unique advantages in local knowledge and cross-sectoral coordination. It identifies key barriers, such as scientific uncertainty at local scales and a gap between public expectations and available resources. To overcome these, the paper recommends strategies including the cultivation of local political 'champions', the creation of 'knowledge partnerships' to translate climate science for communities, and the use of participatory planning to mobilise in-kind resources. It emphasizes that for these local successes to contribute to global transformational change, they must be 'scaled out' to other localities and 'scaled up' into national policy frameworks.

• Subnational governments face a significant gap between the high expectations of the public for climate responses and the actual political and financial authority and resources available to them, often due to imperfect devolution of power.
• Local-scale climate action is hindered by high levels of scientific uncertainty because historic climate data for specific subnational areas are often poorly recorded, making it difficult to justify climate-proof investments.
• Subnational actors are uniquely positioned to implement climate compatible development because they possess first-hand experience of local climate trends and can communicate the case for action more effectively to stakeholders in local languages or dialects.
• Effective subnational strategies rely on 'knowledge partnerships' and 'knowledge intermediaries' that translate complex climate science into accessible terms and data visualisations for non-specialists and local communities.
• Participatory planning processes can stretch limited government budgets by mobilising local in-kind resources, such as people's time, knowledge, and social capital.
• Accessing international climate finance, such as the Green Climate Fund, remains difficult for subnational entities as funding is typically managed by national entities, requiring cities to have national government-authorised investment plans.
• Horizontal cooperation, including integration across sectors within a city and transboundary coordination between jurisdictions, is essential for managing resources like water that flow across political boundaries.
• Transformational change requires 'scaling out' (replicating quality benefits in more localities) and 'scaling up' (integrating tested local solutions into national or international policy frameworks).

APA

Anton, B., Cambray, A., Dupar, M., & Westerlind-Wigstroem, A. (2014). Close to home: subnational strategies for climate compatible development. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CDKN_ICLEI-Subnational-CCD-Strategies.pdf

Chicago

Anton, Barbara, Ali Cambray, Mairi Dupar, and Astrid Westerlind-Wigstroem. Close to home: subnational strategies for climate compatible development. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2014. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CDKN_ICLEI-Subnational-CCD-Strategies.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Anton |first1=Barbara |last2=Cambray |first2=Ali |last3=Dupar |first3=Mairi |last4=Westerlind-Wigstroem |first4=Astrid |title=Close to home: subnational strategies for climate compatible development |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=April 2014 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CDKN_ICLEI-Subnational-CCD-Strategies.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{anton2014close, author = {Anton, Barbara and Cambray, Ali and Dupar, Mairi and Westerlind-Wigstroem, Astrid}, title = {{Close to home: subnational strategies for climate compatible development}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2014}, month = apr, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CDKN_ICLEI-Subnational-CCD-Strategies.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }