City Climate Mitigation & Diplomacy A Study of Small- and Medium-sized Cities in Thailand 10.02.2017 Wageningen University & Research Lorenz Blume Source Graphic Cover Page Fischer et al. (2015). Urbanization and Climate Diplomacy: The Stake of Cities in Global Climate Governance. Climate Diplomacy Series. Berlin: Adelphi. Title City Climate Mitigation & Diplomacy: A Study of Small- and Medium-sized Cities in Thailand For MSc Thesis Forest and Nature Conservation Policy: FNP-80436 Student Lorenz Blume ([email protected]) Reg. #: 900527076020 MSc Forest and Nature Conservation Specialization: Policy & Society Track: Sustainable Development Diplomacy Supervisors Prof. Dr. Bas Arts Dr. Mattijs Smits ([email protected]) ([email protected]) Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group Environmental Policy Group Institution Wageningen University and Research Center Droevendalsesteeg 4 6708PB Wageningen The Netherlands i Content Table 1. Introduction 1 1.1. Paris Agreement: Institutionalization of Mitigation Experiments beyond the State? 1 1.2. A City’s Potential - Where Theory Meets Practice 3 1.3. Cities Act while States Talk - Walk the Talk? 4 1.4. Country Background - Why Thailand? 6 1.5. Research Objective and Structure 7 2. Theoretical Framework 9 2.1. New Diplomacy - Multilevel Governance 9 2.2. Paradiplomacy 11 2.3. City Climate Diplomacy 14 2.4. Policy Arrangement Approach 21 2.5. Interplay of Concepts & Research Questions 23 3. Methods 25 3.1. Case Selection 25 3.2. Data Collection 27 3.2.1. Literature Review and Analysis 27 3.2.2. Semi-Structured Interviews 27 3.2.3. Site Visits and Other Exchanges 28 3.3. Data Validity 29 3.4. Data Analysis 29 4. Actors & Discourses 31 4.1. Klaeng - An Introduction 31 4.1.1. Klaeng’s LCC Program – The Script and the Cast 33 4.1.2. Horizontal and Vertical Collaboration 39 4.2. Chiang Rai - An Introduction 41 4.2.1. Chiang Rai’s LCC Program – The Script and the Cast 42 4.2.2. Horizontal and Vertical Collaboration 46 ii 4.3. Where the Local Meets the Global - Actors 48 4.4. Translating Global Climate Change to Local Contexts - Discourse 52 5. Rules & Resources 55 5.1. Rules 55 5.1.1. ASEAN and Sustainable Cities 55 5.1.2. Thailand: Holistic Frameworks and Sectoral Plans 56 5.1.3. Rules Governing Governments: a level too many? 59 5.1.4. Decentralization Reforms and Power Shifts 62 5.1.5. Conclusion 64 5.2. Power Dynamics among Stakeholders - Resources 65 5.2.1. Finance 65 5.2.2. Knowledge 68 5.2.3. Capacity 70 5.2.4. Communications and Networks 72 5.2.5. Conclusion 75 6. Conclusion & Discussion 77 6.1. – Revisiting the Research Questions 77 6.2. Empirically Putting Research Into Context 83 6.2.1. Horizontal Collaboration 85 6.2.2. Vertical Collaboration 89 6.2.3. LCC Design Choices and Project Prioritization 91 6.2. Reflections on Theoretical Framework and Methods 94 6.3. Recommendations 97 Bibliography 100 Annexes 111 Annex A - Overview International City Climate Diplomacy 111 Annex B - List of Thai cities engaging in city diplomacy 112 Annex C – List of Interviewees 114 iii List of Figures Figure 1 - Visted LCC - Location ............................................................................................................................. 26 Figure 2 - Klaeng Emission Profile ......................................................................................................................... 37 Figure 3 - Actor Composition LCC Policy Stabilization 2004/05; source: author .................................................. 49 Figure 4 - Actor Composition LCC Policy Stabilization 2011; source: author ........................................................ 49 Figure 5 - Evolution of LCC Discourse; assessment based on interview data ....................................................... 54 Figure 6 - Government Structure; source: author ................................................................................................. 60 iv List of Abbreviations ACCCRN Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network ADB Asian Development Bank ADEME Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Énergie AEC ASEAN Economic Community AIESC ASEAN Initiative on Environmentally Sustainable Cities AIT Asian Institute of Technology APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Community ASCCC ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations BEDO Biodiversity-Based Development Office C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group CCP Cities for Climate Protection cCR Carbon Climate Registry CO2(e) Carbon Dioxide (equivalent) COP Conference of the Parties DEDE Department of Alternative Energy Development and Energy Efficiency DELGOSEA Partnership for Democratic Local Governance in Southeast-Asia DEQP Department of Environmental Quality Promotion DLA Department of Local Administration v GHG Greenhouse Gases GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GPC Global Protocol for community-scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions ICLEI International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives IGES Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (I)NDC (Intended) Nationally Determined Contributions ISO International Organization for Standardization ISO 14001 Environment Management System JICA Japanese International Cooperation Agency LCC Low-carbon City NAZCA Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action NESDP National Economic and Social Development Plan NGO Non-Governmental Organization NMT National Municipal League of Thailand NNSA Non-Nation State Actor NSA Non-State Actor ONEP Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning OTP Office of Transport and Traffic Planning and Policy PAA Policy Arrangement Approach T-COP Carbon Offsetting Program vi TEI Thailand Environment Institute TGO Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization THB Thai Baht T-VER Voluntary Emission Reduction Program UCLG-ASPAC United Cities and Local Governments – Asia-Pacific UNDP United Nations Development Program UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UN-Habitat United Nations Human Settlements Program USAID United States Agency for International Development WWF Worldwide Fund for Nature vii Acknowledgements The present product was only made possible by the kindness of my local interlocutors in Thailand, who set time aside in their schedule to talk to me, show me around and share their passions for sustainable and low-carbon cities with me. For that, I would like to thank all my interviewees in Thailand, and especially so Khun Somchai and Khun Tharee, for letting me access their professional network and for the many inspiring talks over coffee and dinner. I furthermore would like to thank my FNP supervisor, Prof. Dr. Bas Arts, for showing understanding for my reasons of wanting to research low carbon cities in Thailand, and for making time in your busy schedule to supervise me. Your feedback helped me to critically reassess what I have been writing and always revealed new perspectives. My gratitude goes to my ENP supervisor, Dr. Mattijs Smits, for your continued interest in my work and for making it possible in the first place for me to become part of a very interesting research program. The time I spent in Thailand was the most fun and formative period of my master study. Thanks also for making me feel a part of the overall program by letting me assist in other program activities. Your constructive feedback always reignited my motivation and raised my ambition to deliver a good product. viii Abstract The academic literature highlights the enormous greenhouse gas emission mitigation potential of cities, which have increasingly been recognized as local key sites for combating global climate change. More and more cities implement low carbon city (LCC) programs throughout the world, also in developing countries. To overcome barriers related to their size and limited resource base, cities are moreover claimed to proactively pursue their climate change objectives internationally through direct and indirect collaborations with other actors - a process called city climate diplomacy. However, for both these claims the evidence base is fragmentary for small- and medium-sized cities in the global South. The present research set out to conduce to fill this knowledge gap by analyzing why and how one small- and one medium-sized city in Thailand implemented a LCC program and how this policy was influenced by interactions with international actors. A qualitative comparative case study approach found application and interviews were conducted with stakeholders on site. Findings were structured along the policy arrangement approach’s four analytical dimensions - discourse, actors, rules, resources - that helped explain why the LCC policy arrangement emerged and developed. It is argued that the LCC discourse was infused to Thailand by international actors, especially Japan-based ones, and is seen as part of the broader sustainable city discourse. A small number of municipal policy entrepreneurs took the lead in operationalizing the discourse with the objective to maximize local co-benefits, and received decisive support therein from international actors, who increased their resource base. However, a strategic pursuance of city climate diplomacy could not be observed. Later, new central government actors entered the policy playing field and institutionalized the discourse at the national level through formulating LCC rules, thereby disempowering frontrunner cities and curtailing the direct influence of international actors. During this process of policy stabilization, power shifted from an initially