Think globally, act locally? Local climate change and energy policies in Sweden and the UK

While climate change is obviously a global environmental problem, there is nevertheless potential for policy initiatives at the local level, Although the competences of local authorities vary between countries, they all have some responsibilities in the crucial areas of energy and transport policy, This paper examines local competences in Sweden and the UK and looks at the responses to the climate change issue by six local authorities, focussing on energy related developments, The points of departure are very different in the two countries, Swedish local authorities are much more independent than UK ones, especially through the ownership of local energy companies, Yet, UK local authorities are relatively active in the climate change domain, at least in terms of drawing up response strategies, which they see as an opportunity for reasserting their role, after a long period of erosion of their powers, Furthermore, there is more scope for action in the UK, as in Sweden many potential measures; especially in the energy efficiency field, have already been taken, However, in both countries climate change is only a relatively marginal area of local environmental policy making and the political will, as well as the financial resources, for more radical measures are often absent. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.