On the basis our 2020 thematic priorities, the IOPD requested a study on climate change adaptation and citizen participation, which was charged to Yves Cabannes, Urban Planner and activist specializing in urban and municipal governance, Emeritus Professor of Development Planning (UCL / DPU).

The study is co-published in September 2020 by OIDP-UCLG together with Enda ECOPOP, FMDV Global Fund for Cities Development, Kota Kita Foundation and University College London under the title Contributions of Participatory Budgeting to Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation: Current Local Practices Around the World & Lessons from the Field.

The study builds on the abstracts, exchanges and contributions from two international sessions on contributions of participatory budgeting (PB) to climate change adaptation and mitigation: IOPD Conference in Mexico, December 2019 and World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi, February 2020. It also draws on climate sensitive PB initiatives in 15 participating cities and regions from different continents that willingly documented their ongoing experience.

• Download the full document here (English).
• Executive Summary (English).
• Executive Summary (Mandarin)
• Executive Summary (Russian)

Abstract:

This report builds on the contributions from two international sessions on the contributions of participatory budgeting (PB) to climate change adaptation and mitigation.  It also draws on PB initiatives in 15 participating cities and regions from different continents. Its first objective is to describe and understand what is actually happening in the field and explore the extent to which PB contributes to climate change adaptation and mitigation, how it does so, and the current challenges facing PB actors. It assesses the nature and importance of these contributions: Are they marginal or not? How many projects are implemented each year? What do they cost and where do the resources come from? It highlights the numerous innovations that actors have introduced to integrate PB into climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. It finally raises questions for future explorations and advocates for climate-related participatory budgeting, raising awareness of its huge (and as yet largely untapped) potential to help address the dramatic impacts that climate change has on millions of people's lives.