How Can Voluntary Domestic Climate Strengthen Global Climate Action? Legitimacy and Effectiveness of the Voluntary Climate Action in Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands

Climate governance has also been heralded for its experimental, polycentric and bottom-up logic with a plethora of voluntary commitments at global, regional and domestic levels. The Marrakech Partnership for Climate Action and the Global Climate Action Portal (GCAP) contains more than 40,000 commitments, by networks, companies, investors, cities and regions. This has spurred climate action among states that have adopted a plethora of voluntary climate action platforms to achieve national climate targets, illustrated by multistakeholder platforms such as Fossil-Free Free Sweden and Climate Partnerships in Denmark. Challenges of domestic voluntary climate action are similar to those found in GCAP, namely effectiveness, democratic legitimacy, accountability and inclusion. The aim of this paper is to compare the legitimacy and effectiveness of voluntary climate action in Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. The Net zero accountability and recognition framework was adopted by the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate (UNFCCC) brings a focus on tracking progress and accountability of climate action. However, domestic climate action has greater prospects of being regulated through national climate laws. First, the paper discusses legitimacy, effectiveness and accountability challenges facing domestic voluntary climate action, namely skewed participation, weak accountability, and low transparency. Secondly, it assesses the perceptions of effectiveness and legitimacy among industry, civil society, municipalities, scientists, and civil servants of voluntary climate commitments through a survey of domestic climate action in the three countries. Thirdly, it compares to what extent the states have adopted mechanisms and regulation to monitor, review and track progress of national climate action. Finally, it examines the interaction between domestic and global climate action and provide recommendations how synergy can be strengthened and trade-offs minimized.