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Sustainable Development and Subnational Governments pp 160–179Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

A ‘Responsibility’ to Act Globally: Investigating the Welsh Assembly Government’s Engagement in nrg4SD

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Abstract

Many processes have contributed to the rise in subnational government international activity on sustainable development. As state control has unraveled polítical authority has diffused to international institutions and to the subnational level. During the ‘era of decentralization’ in advanced democracies (Marks, Hooghe and Schakel 2008: 177), subnational governments have become increasingly active internationally. Concurrently, the global polítical agenda has placed greater priority on sustainable development issues (including the issue of climate change). By their nature, these issues transcend state boundaries and levels of government (Berger and Steurer 2008: 32). International-level decision-making predominates while subnational governments increasingly figure as implementers of those decisions.1 As a result, subnational governments have sought to enhance their influence on relevant multilateral bodies (Happaerts et al. 2010: 128).

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Authors
  1. Elin Royles
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Leuven, Belgium

    Hans Bruyninckx , Sander Happaerts  & Karoline Van den Brande ,  & 

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© 2012 Elin Royles

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Royles, E. (2012). A ‘Responsibility’ to Act Globally: Investigating the Welsh Assembly Government’s Engagement in nrg4SD. In: Bruyninckx, H., Happaerts, S., Van den Brande, K. (eds) Sustainable Development and Subnational Governments. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137005427_9

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