Cities, Land Use, and the Global Commons: Genesis and the Urban Politics of Climate Change

Abstract

This Article, which will appear in a forthcoming volume from Cambridge University Press, seeks to situate local governments in the growth of international environmental governance. After considering the seminal decision of Genesis Power Ltd. v. Franklin District Council, it proposes that models from international relations theory could be adapted and altered to explain and predict local government behavior in global governance. In contrast to the widely-held - but rarely examined - consensus view, we suggest that local government might possess strong incentives to take action in mitigating climate change, and set forth a research agenda with testable propositions to determine whether such international local government theory has validity.

Keywords: Genesis Power Ltd. v. Franklin District Council, climate change, international law