Abstract

In 2019, the city councils of Belfast and Cork each declared climate emergencies. In doing so, they joined a growing movement of public institutions working towards combatting climate change. City councils as local units of governance have perhaps the most direct relationship with their citizens. This makes them well suited to support place-based climate actions and engage in building genuine public participation. Such initiative can have impacts beyond the physical and may contribute to disrupting unhelpful narratives and encouraging fair and just climate action.

Climate services play an important role in delivering usable information needed to make decisions. As cities take the lead in climate policies in their areas, they will need tailored climate services as their needs are very different to those of national institutions. These differences have not been widely investigated but cannot be resolved by merely downscaling existing services. The envisaged co-production inherent in provision of climate services involves a wide range of actors at city level, and the services created will have more site-specific relevance. The constraints cities face delivering action may also lead to more inventive applications of climate services.

This work examines the state of affairs surrounding climate services and just transitions in the cities. It mapped the current network of actors connected to the climate services in the cities through the plans and policies that impact them and raises questions as to how climate services may be best supplied and utilised in cities.