Urban climate governance in North America

Join us for a conversation with leading scholars of urban climate governance. Find out what some of the largest North American cities have been doing to address climate change, coordination/collaboration among them, and how their different sub-national and national contexts affect their efforts. This event will feature presentations from Sara Hughes (University of Michigan), Gian Carlo Delgado Ramos (National Autonomous University of Mexico), and Hilda Blanco (University of Southern California).

From the speakers' bios

Sara Hughes is an assistant professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan, where she leads the Water and Climate Policy Lab. Sara's research focuses on urban climate change and water policy, politics, and governance. Sara is currently exploring research topics involving governance strategies for equitable responses to climate change in cities, drinking water politics and policy, and addressing inequality through urban sustainability transitions. Her book, Repowering Cities, critically evaluates the governing strategies to meet ambitious GHG reduction targets, and the consequences of these efforts.

Gian Carlo Delgado Ramos is an economist with a background in ecological economics, environmental management, and environmental sciences. He is a full-time researcher at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in the Sciences and Humanities at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He is a member of the National Research System administered by Mexico's National Council for Science and Technology. He has published three dozen academic books, more than 50 book chapters, and more than 200 articles. His main lines of research relate to urban adaptation and mitigation of climate change, urban political ecology, urban sustainability and resilience, and governance for urban transformation. He was a lead author of the Fifth Assessment Review of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He is currently an Editor/Reviewer for the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Review.  He is also a chapter lead author in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)'s GEO for Cities report and Co-chair of UNEP's "The Weight of Cities in Latin America and the Caribbean" report. His latest publication, Climate-Environmental Governance in the Mexico Valley Metropolitan Area" was published in World.

Hilda Blanco holds a PhD in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. She held tenured appointments at Hunter College's Department of Urban Affairs (1988-96) and the University of Washington (1996-2009), where she chaired the Department of Urban Design and Planning (2000-2007) and is currently an Emeritus Professor. From 2010-2016, she was a research professor and Interim Director of the Center for Sustainable Cities at the University of Southern California, and is currently the Project Director for the Center. Her research areas include cities and climate change, sustainable and livable cities, urban growth management, water policy, and renewable energy policy. She was a lead author of the urban chapter in the IPCC's 5th Climate Assessment, a lead author for the Southwest Region chapter of the U.S. National Climate Assessment (2014), and is currently a lead author of the Urban Systems chapter in the IPCC's forthcoming 6th Assessment. She is the North American Editor of the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, and a member of the editorial boards of Progress in Planning and the Journal of Emergency Management.

North American Colloquium

This event is part of the 2020-21 North American Colloquium (NAC), organized by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy with generous support from the Meany Family Foundation, and co-sponsored by the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto and the Center for Research on North America at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. The objective of the NAC is to provide a forum that strengthens a wider North American conversation and more fruitful trilateral cooperation between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. Sign up for more information about this year's NAC here.

Faculty Expert

Barry Rabe

J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy

Rabe examines the political feasibility and durability of environmental and energy policy, with a particular emphasis on efforts to address climate change in the U.S. and other federal systems. His most recent books examine the politics of carbon pricing and the limitations of unilateral executive branch policy actions. Current research explores the politics of intensive but short-lived greenhouse gases, such as methane and HFCs. Recent policy engagement includes work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Interior, the Department of Commerce, and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

• climate policy
• climate
• energy and electricity
• energy and environment
• State and Urban Policy
• urban affairs
• Sara Hughes
• Gian Carlo Delgado Ramos
• Hilda Blanco
• North American Colloquium Climate Series
• North American Colloquium