Measuring the effectiveness of non-state actors’ climate goals : the level of effectiveness of non-state actors’ cooperative initiatives, focussing on resilience, of the UN NAZCA Platform The level of effectiveness of non-state actors’ cooperative initiatives, focussing on resilience, of the UN NAZCA Platform

Abstract

This study examines the level of effectiveness of non-state actors’ cooperative initiatives connected to the Non-State Actor Zone of Climate Action (NAZCA) Platform, focussing on resilience. Non-state actors show a great potential in transnational climate governance (Blok et al., 2012; Chan et al., 2015; Hsu et al., 2015; Michaelowa and Michaelowa, 2017). However, whether the potential of their climate actions will be realized remains uncertain. Systematic evidence of the effectiveness of non-state actors’ initiatives, as well as cooperative initiatives, still remains scarce (Chan et al., 2015; Michaelowa and Michaelowa, 2017). Therefore, there is a need for better understanding the effectiveness of these relatively new initiatives, and whether they are likely to deliver on their promise of advancing global efforts to increase the resilience to climate change (Chan et al., 2015; Betsill et al., 2015). Consequently, this research contributes to this knowledge gap. In order to execute this study, an analytical framework is developed and applied to measure the level of effectiveness of non-state actors’ cooperative initiatives from the NAZCA Platform and resulted in some relevant findings and recommendations. In sum, the research findings show that the overall level of effectiveness of the fourteen non-state actors’ cooperative initiatives focussing on resilience, involved in the NAZCA Platform, is currently moderate. Clear goals are set by the initiatives, showing their will to enhance resilience to climate change, but due to various factors it is currently difficult to ensure the likelihood that the initiatives will achieve their goals. These factors include the consideration of budget, time frame and scope, the level of cooperation with other NAZCA initiatives, the level of transparency, incorporation of feedback mechanisms and direct impact measurements for resilience to climate change. When these factors will be taken into more careful consideration and increased by the initiatives, the overall level of effectiveness of the initiatives will be improved, showing a higher contribution to enhancing resilience to climate change.