As cities take on a growing role in tackling climate change, McGill researcher Christopher Orr is helping to map what the world really knows about municipal climate action. The ultimate goal is to help cities design strategies that are both ambitious and suited to local realities.
“Cities around the world are doing really exciting work on climate action, but those efforts haven’t scaled globally. We wanted to understand why some cities act ambitiously while others don’t, and what drives climate action in different regions,” said Orr, a Postdoctoral Fellow in McGill’s School of Urban Planning and researcher with the Climate Cities Recovery Project. “If cities can leverage these insights, they can design solutions that actually fit their context. That can make climate action not just more effective, but more durable.”
Climate network membership emerges as key factor
The Climate Cities Recovery Project was initially launched in 2021 to better understand how and why municipalities adjusted their environmental commitments in response to COVID-19. But the project soon led to an unexpected, broader inquiry: What are the factors driving cities toward climate action in the first place?
In an analysis of nearly 100 studies from around the world, one factor emerged: climate network membership. It stood out as the only consistently strong factor among the roughly 90 variables the team identified. These ranged from government staff’s attitudes and motivation to administrative structure and public support.
Uneven evidence, global gaps
But membership in climate networks is rarely studied in the Global South.
In a new global review co-written with colleagues at the Climate Cities Recovery Project, Orr highlights the uneven evidence base shaping climate policy internationally and points to areas where future research is most needed.
With many cities in these regions facing rapid growth and acute climate vulnerability, Orr said closing research gaps will be critical if global climate targets are to be met – and if cities are to design policies that fit their political and institutional realities.
While earlier work had shown disparities between the Global North and Global South, the review highlights major methodological gaps in how researchers study city climate action in some regions.
From global gaps to local action
That uneven picture is precisely what the next stage of the project seeks to clarify. As cities continue to shoulder more climate responsibilities, Orr noted that a more complete global evidence base will be essential.
The final phase of the Climate Cities Recovery Project will draw on interviews with city practitioners worldwide to link this global picture of what drives city climate action with nuanced examples of what that action looks like in different local contexts.
“I hope this research can influence actual policies and actions on the ground,” Orr said.