Conflicts in multi-level governance: an analysis of international climate policy implementation at the sub-national level

The complexity and multi-level nature of climate change requires governance systems able to manage and resolve conflicts across multiple scales. Drawing on the theories of collaborative governance and conflict resolution, this paper proposes a theoretical framework to understand three types of conflicts likely to occur in a multi-level governance (MLG) network: conflict in problem framing, conflict in benefit sharing, and conflict in capacity building. Using the implementation of the clean development mechanism in China as a case study, the paper finds the three types of conflicts emerged between supranational and subnational levels. The finding further indicates the role that the Chinese national government played in resolving conflicts through reinterpreting international norms, aligning presumably conflicting goals, eliminating the difference in benefits sharing, and narrowing capacity gaps across levels. The evidence suggests an improved MLG should be dedicated to integrating local level interests in centrally dominated policy processes. This study contributes new knowledge on MLG by investigating the hierarchical relations among participants and how authority and power differentials can shape their interactions across levels.