How power affects climate policy implementation:Conceptual reflections and empirical findings from Southeast Asia

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Tackling climate change and dealing with its transboundary effects is far beyond the control of national governments and requires coordinated efforts. Numerous increasingly interdependent state- and non-state actors from different sectors and at different jurisdictional levels need to be considered. Thus, regulating or governing climate change represents a highly complex all-encompassing societal challenge. Concepts like multi-level or polycentric governance acknowledge that complexity and emphasize the need for participation and coordination - in particular for solving global environmental problems.Multi-level governance research has become a vibrant field of study in political science. Yet, two shortcomings are characteristic: 1. Although power relations, struggles and conflicts are central for effective environmental policy implementation, the role of power in this domain has been rarely explicitly conceptualized. Surprisingly little references are made to traditional power theories. 2. Multi-level governance concepts have been largely discussed within the European context with few insights from the developing world. The proposed project aims to address both gaps. It seeks to further develop a power-based multi-level governance approach for the field of climate change and apply it to the field of climate policy implementation in Indonesia and the Philippines.To answer how different forms of power (in terms of resources, capacities and structural elements) affect climate policy implementation in emerging economies, this research is divided into three consecutive parts: 1. Based on earlier reflections about a power-based multi-level governance approach, the framework will be expanded and put into the context of climate change (conceptual phase). 2. With the help of qualitative methods, the framework will then be applied to climate policy implementation in Indonesia and the Philippines. Both countries have formulated progressive climate action plans, but their implementation remains a great challenge (empirical phase). 3. The power-based multi-level governance approach will then be critically reflected. Results will be linked to broader debates related to climate governance and low carbon development (reflexive phase).The project aims to demonstrate how power can be integrated into multi-level governance concepts to enrich their analytical depth. Empirically, the project will not only map complex climate governance arrangements in Indonesia and the Philippines, but also trace how fragmented power resources, the distribution of capacities and issues of interjurisdictional coordination affect climate policy implementation in both unitary, but heavily decentralized emerging economies. Eventually, the project aims to contribute to the debate about the role of power not only in multi-level governance research, but also in science and technology studies and sustainability transitions research.