Context

Complex climate risks are cascading and often transcend national borders. Building resilience to these risks require therefore a shared transnational responsibility. The emergence of transnational city networks such as C40 (C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group) and ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives), aligns with this imperative for collaborative international efforts for building climate resilience.

This project will establish an interdisciplinary collaboration between the University of York and Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU). Professor Chen Zeng, will collaborate with YESI Resilient Socio-ecological Systems theme experts to examine the role of city networks as driving forces of global climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. Prof Zeng is an expert on Climate Governance and Urbanization and Regional Development, and Director of the Director Interdisciplinary Research Center for Territorial Spatial Governance and Green Development at HZAU.

Aims and Objectives

This project aims to compare climate resilience initiatives and feedbacks in Transnational Municipal Climate Networks (TMCN) between UK and China through the review of pertinent literature and the interviews with diverse stakeholders, as well as field trips to understand the transboundary climate risk and governance in climate resilience efforts in UK.

This project will contribute to establish a long-lasting interdisciplinary collaboration between the UoY and Huazhong Agricultural University. Prof Chen Zeng will visit the University of York to allow structured engagements with relevant colleagues at York and establish the grounding for follow-up collaborations; and a joint paper writing focused on exploring the assessment on the status quo of global city network and the approaches to enhance its role in enhancing transboundary climate resilience.