CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2024
| Author | Mina Leopold |
|---|---|
| Title | The EU Cities Mission: Recognizing the non-neutrality of climate policies. Analysis of urban climate policy in a multi-level governance process with an environmental justice perspective. |
| Summary | The intersection of climate change and social justice is especially pertinent in urban environments, where inequalities are closely linked to the effects of climate change. This thesis investigates the EU Cities Mission, an initiative launched by the European Commission in 2021 to support 100 European cities in achieving climate neutrality by 2030. The EU Cities Mission provides a unique context to examine how governance structures can either facilitate or constraint the integration of environmental justice into urban climate policy. The central research question addressed is: How are narratives related to environmental justice framed within the multi-level governance framework of the Cities Mission? Utilizing a critical environmental justice framework, this study employs a combination of grey literature review, discourse analysis, and interviews to uncover the architecture of the Cities Mission’s governance. It assesses the extent to which environmental justice considerations are integrated into discourses of the European Commission and the cities of Marseille and Leuven, the chosen case studies. The findings suggest that the experimental governance and innovation management approaches promoted by the European Commission risk reinforcing neoliberal environmentalism, which often conflicts with justice-informed environmentalism. Nonetheless, bottom-up governance and citizen involvement practices demonstrate a stronger potential for achieving equitable processes and outcomes in urban decision-making, provided they are conducted with careful attention to justice aspects. Lastly, the recognition of alternative urban transition models that emphasize resource and wealth distribution over economic growth is essential and should be acknowledged by the European Commission. |
| Supervisor | Schaffartzik,Anke |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy MSc |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2024/leopold_mina.pdf |
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