Multi-Level Governance, transport policy and carbon emissions management

The Climate Change Act (2008) places a legally binding requirement on the UK Government to set targets and report on progress on climate change emission reductions.The transport sector contributes one-third of total UK emissions and is the most difficult sector in which to cut emissions.
The research project examines whether and how governance structures make a difference to policy effectiveness (design and delivery) and accountability within the field of carbon emissions management and the transport sector.The research is theoretically-informed and considers the extent to which Multi-Level Governance can be used to understand the complex interplay of policies in carbon management for transport across six spatial levels and the many non-governmental public bodies and private sector delivery agencies involved.
The research takes a comparative case study design looking at the development of policies in Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh which provides variation in governance structures across the UK and within both the English and Scottish contexts. Interviews will provide the first tranche of data with a further set of discursive events involving stakeholder groups and the general public being used to piece together the accounts of the different actors and to determine what implications there are for effective policy design. Further details are available at http://www.transportcarbon.org/