Capacity for climate change planning: assessing metropolitan responses in the United States

Political inaction at the federal level in the United States has driven increased attention to the importance of planning for climate change at the metropolitan level. This study reports on a survey of 25 regional councils in the United States that measures the extent to which they have adopted climate change plans and to identify the factors that influence their ability to implement climate change initiatives. The findings revealed that a majority of regional councils are involved in planning for and seeking to reduce climate change, and that existing efforts in complementary policy domains make this involvement possible. The findings support a multi-level framework to assess the institutional capacity of regional councils to implement climate change policy and planning in a metropolitan area.