Contending with a changing climate presents a necessary push for planning. Although climate change is considered a global environmental problem requiring a global commitment and trans-national action, more and more, policymakers are recognizing the vital need for action at the local level. In the US, especially in the absence of national climate legislation, many local governments have begun developing strategic plans, or climate action plans (CAPs), to address adapting to impacts of climate change and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This thesis involves case studies of Portland, OR and Chicago, IL, cities with recently adopted CAPs and with considerable recognition in the field. The analysis involves an evaluation each city’s CAP and an evaluation of its implementation. The studies help elicit an understanding of the measures cites are employing to mitigate climate change and determine ways the planning profession can better assist communities in climate policy development and its prompt implementation.

À travers l'analyse de la politique climatique à l'échelle intercommunale, la question est aujourd'hui de savoir si le cadre règlementaire apparaît à la fois juridiquement efficace et effectif dans la réalisation des objectifs intercommunaux d'atténuation des émissions de gaz à effet de serre et d'adaptation au changement climatique. Cette analyse prend pour objet d'étude la constitution du plan climat de la Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence, institution concernée par un ensemble des réformes territoriales, et ce notamment dans la construction de sa politique climatique métropolitaine / Through the analysis of the legal components of the climate action at an intercommunal scale, the question is whether the legal framework built in order to reach the objectives of GHG emissions mitigation and climate change adaptation appears suitable in terms of efficacy and implementation. We explore the establishment of the climate planning document of Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, an institution affected by numerous structural changes in link with territorial reforms

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The urgent issue of climate change has led to companies increasingly taking climate action by setting science-based emission reduction targets aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. The purpose of this study was to investigate how Swedish companies are working to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through science-based targets. The study was performed through a survey to the Swedish companies committed to the Science Based Targets initiative, and by an assessment of progress against targets using public emission data. The results showed that science-based targets as a tool for climate action raises the climate ambition of companies and provides a good basis for climate strategy. Benefits of committing to science-based targets were primarily that it builds credibility and a good reputation. The main drivers were to improve company climate action, reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as to gain market advantages. Most companies reported climate results annually, but reporting practices were often insufficient or lacked transparency. Most science-based targets were on track to be achieved, though the results showed more limited progress against targets covering scope 3 emissions. The key activities for progress were primarily linked to energy, transportation and fuel, and product development. Overall, the study shows that science-based targets can play a significant role in companies’ efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and serve as a useful climate action tool. However, increased transparency is needed to strengthen the integrity of the targets.

This thesis project explores the evolving relationship between Applied Theatre and youth-led environmental activism in Canada. It uses Ottawa-based 100 Watt Productions as its primary case-study, locating the company's performance history, creation methodologies, and pedagogy within English Canada's recent Applied Theatre and Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) landscapes. This analysis is accomplished through a mixture of textual analysis, performance analysis, and interviews with the company's founder, Kristina Watt Villegas. Particular focus is placed on Watt's approach to collaborating with young people on 12, the company's most recent theatrical production and most urgent call for climate action to date, having toured theatres, schools, board rooms, and government offices across Canada’s capital region. 12 is composed of a mixture of brief vignettes, poetic compositions, and verbatim excerpts regarding climate crises, described as a "cross-generation love story - a playful theatrical invitation [...] to stop, listen, and to consider what it actually means to take action at this point" (Watt, "Creations: 12"). This thesis project proposes that productions such as these demand a new subcategorization of Applied Theatre, formulated here as Youth Theatre for Adult Audiences (YTAA). This YTAA terminology describes Applied Theatre that has been specifically created by young people for adults, a performance dynamic that has proven to be particularly well suited to the unprecedented political challenges faced by our youngest generations, not only in its compatibility with the platforming of climate appeals, but also in its unique capacity to elevate those young voices through a reframing of the aesthetic experience, often incorporating the participants' own creation process into the audience's overall consideration of aesthetic experience. In this sense, 12 acts as a microcosm for YTAA's escalating significance as an Applied Theatre subcategory, pointing towards an urgent need for increased attention, both in Canadian theatre criticism and scholarship more broadly.

Narratives on the climate crisis are becoming more and more prominent in mainstream media today, with the genre of climate podcasts emerging and growing in the past years. With storytelling opening the potential of engaging audiences in taking climate action, this thesis gives insights into the storytelling of three climate podcast hosts and theor potential to encourage individual and/or collective action through storytelling in the listener. Through analytical listening, storytelling elements were found in all three podcasts that denote a deep focus on the climate crisis as a crisis that calls for collective solutions.

The adoptation of environmentally friendly behaviour is rather slow, although the climate crisis is pressing. This thesis aims to understand the slow adoption of environmentally friendly behaviour, specifically focusing on vegetarianism and veganism, by employing social network analysis. By simulating interactions within an agent-based model, the study explores different mechanisms that hinder the diffusion of these behaviours. The research findings highlight the significance of the complexity of the contagion in shaping the speed and extent of the diffusion process. While minimally complex contagions are able to infect half of the network on average, vegetarianism and veganism do not spread, due to their complexity. Additionally, the initial number of vegetarians/ vegans was found to be the main driver of infection speed, besides inter-connectedness. The study also explores the possibility of a social tipping point, a critical threshold at which the diffusion process accelerates or reaches a critical mass. However, the research did not observe a tipping point in the adoption of vegetarianism and veganism. By examining the slow adoption of vegetarianism and veganism as a complex contagion, this research contributes to the comprehension of concrete network effect. The findings provide valuable insights for designing interventions and strategies to promote the widespread adoption of vegetarianism, veganism, and other environmentally friendly practices.

Reconstruction after natural disasters can represent large peaks in a community’s greenhouse gas emission inventory. Components of the built environment destroyed by natural hazards have their useful life shortened, requiring replacement before functionally necessary. Though the hazard itself does not release greenhouse gasses, the demolition and rebuilding process does, and these are the emissions we can quantify to better understand the climate impacts of disasters. The proposed methodology draws data from existing emission and hazard resource literature and combines the information in a community scale life cycle assessment. Case studies of past disasters are used to refine the methodology and quantify the emissions of single events. The methodology is then annualized projecting the emissions of future hazards. The annualization of greenhouse gasses caused by hazard events provides a baseline from which reduction strategies can be measured against. Hazard mitigation strategies can then be quantified as greenhouse gas reduction strategies for use in Climate Action Plans. The methodology combines the fields of climate action, hazard mitigation, and climate adaptation. Each field attempts to create sustainable and resilient communities, but most plans silo each discipline, missing opportunities that are mutually beneficial. Quantifying the greenhouse gasses associated with recovery following a disaster blends these fields to allow development of comprehensive resilience and sustainability strategies that lower greenhouse gases and decrease risk from existing or projected hazards. An online supplement to this thesis is available online at disasterghg.wordpress.com

The purpose of the study is, based on implementation theory and Lennart Lundquist’s three concepts- understanding, capability, and willingness, to identify whether these factors can affect the implementation of the Paris Agreement in four countries. Through a qualitative text analysis of the NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) of four countries, using understanding, capability, and willingness as categories, various aspects have been identified and are presented in the results. The study focuses on four countries with similar climate and economies to establish criteria as closely as possible. The study takes a hermeneutic approach as the authors interpret the material. The results indicate that the countries understand the Paris agreement and why implementation is necessary, considering the environmental issues present today. The countries also present measures for implementations, such as economic or technical aspects on how to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, as well as their priorities in relation to their circumstances. The countries also demonstrate a willingness to carry out implementation, and their ambitions are considered high based on their explanations. The conclusions highlight that implementation theory, and the three concepts of understanding, capability, and willingness can be used to understand the context in which countries implement the Paris Agreement.

Climate change is a critical global problem requiring urgent action. Despite international efforts, problems remain in finding the solutions to tackle a changing climate and for countries to take climate action. Identifying (in)coherence between the domestic and foreign realms of climate policy is an important component for understanding these problems. For this purpose, this thesis investigates the similarities and disparities between domestic and foreign climate policy in Colombia between 2018 and 2022. By analyzing the framing of stakeholders and equity within the four primary climate policy documents for this time period, this investigation provides a novel perspective for understanding climate policy (in)coherence in the Colombian context. Aligning the analytical framework with the Neodesarrollismo model and the CBDR- RC principle, the analysis reveals similarities and disparities in how stakeholders are framed in domestic and foreign climate policy, but also incoherent components within the same policies. Domestic policy spotlights economic benefits and portrays extractive industries as both a challenge and an opportunity, while foreign policy urges a global shift away from these sectors. Nevertheless, the findings indicate that Colombia prioritizes economic growth over equity and stakeholder engagement, especially inclusion of societal stakeholders. The investigation reveals significant dissonance between policy narratives and action, both between and within domestic and foreign climate policy.