Climate Paradiplomacy & Leadership in Asia - Regional Programme Energy Security and Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific
Event Reports
On 17 November, KAS RECAP and EMAHK invited Professor Maria Francesch, Fellow of the Center of Urban Studies and Urban Planning (CUSUP) at the University of Hong Kong, for a luncheon discussion on the topic of Climate Paradiplomacy & Leadership in Asia. Professor Francesch presented main findings of her recently published study “Transnational Climate Change Networks on the example of Singapore and Hong Kong: New Forms of Authority or Mobilization Mechanisms to Secure Consent?”. This research project was funded by KAS RECAP in 2016.
Mr. Shaun Martin, Environmental Education Consultant with Civic Exchange, welcomed around 60 guest from universities, local NGO and business community. Following this, Dr. Peter Hefele, Director of KAS RECAP embraced the opportunity to introduce the work of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, in particular of RECAP.
Dr. Francesch began her lecture quoting Konrad Adenauer, the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, who pointed towards the necessity of trust in successful political negotiations. She linked this to global climate diplomacy by indicating that transnational networks by and for cities form the basis for successful climate negotiations. The comparison between Singapore and Hongkong, behaving in global climate politics, clearly showed the importance of transnational leadership.
However, her findings also indicate some important differences between the two countries/cities. In her conclusions, Dr. Francesch emphasized the need to act global while thinking and deliberating on the local level at the same time. According to her opinion cities need to be regarded “as a space of culture formed by local context and identity, reshaping itself in conjunction with other cities across time and space”.
After the lecture a vital question & discussion round followed, covering essential issues to Hong Kong future green policy. It became clear that scientific knowledge has to be play a much more important role in political decision making processes.
