Municipal Climate Change Governance: A Pathway to Resilience-Building and Vulnerability-Reduction A Case Study Of Kingston, Ontario
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Authors
Yousefinejad, Elham
Date
Type
thesis
Language
eng
Keyword
adaptive governance , political ecology , municipal climate policies , resilience thinking , vulnerability , justice lens
Alternative Title
Abstract
In 2019, Kingston became the first municipality in Ontario to declare a ‘climate emergency’. This declaration stimulated further commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to enhance community resilience to adapt to climate change impacts. The present research aims to evaluate Kingston municipal government’s climate policies to understand strengths, weaknesses, and areas for potential improvement. Formulated upon the analytical frameworks of adaptive governance and political ecology, this qualitative research triangulated content analysis of the documents produced by the City of Kingston with semi-structured interviews with the City officials and social justice advocates whose works are related to climate policies and the most vulnerable population in the face of climate change. The results of this study are summarized through three main arguments. First, adaptive governance and resilience thinking elements are present in Kingston’s climate policies. However, they need to be further and more explicitly developed to shape the policies in future. Second, Kingston emphasizes scientific framing and technical solutions for reducing emissions over the contextual and human security framing and adaptation. Consequently, the idea of climate vulnerability and importance of justice-oriented approach to avoid maladaptation and unintended effects of adaptation on marginal groups is not integrated in its climate change plan so far. Finally, to address this gap, Kingston needs to create a new policy document with a stronger equity and justice orientation within both adaptation and mitigation.
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Queen's University's Thesis/Dissertation Non-Exclusive License for Deposit to QSpace and Library and Archives Canada
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Copying and Preserving Your Thesis
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ProQuest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement
Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University
Copying and Preserving Your Thesis
This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner.