Description: In an era of intensified geopolitics and of national-level political gridlock, subnational governments can potentially play an essential role in combating global climate change. Can subnational governments introduce and sustain climate policy actions through changes in political leadership? Why are some local areas doing better than others in delivering on their climate goals?
Review Quotes: "China is the world's largest emitter of warming gases and is now doing a lot to learn how to cut its pollution. In this thoughtful book, Weila Gong shows that much of innovation is coming from big cities led by entrepreneurial bureaucrats who see the future in clean industry. She shows why some cities are doing a lot more than others and why this leadership is politically sustainable. It's a book that adds not just hope but also deeper understanding of how subnational policy actually works." -- David G. Victor, University of California-San Diego
"Weila Gong offers a deep dive into how local government leadership has shaped low-carbon policy experiments in China. With four case studies of regions in southeast China, Gong shows how local leadership's implementation capacity is dependent on the ability to mobilize trained personnel and establish action alliances. This book is an important addition to the literature on central-local relations, local leadership, and climate policy making." -- Miranda A. Schreurs, Technical University of Munich"This fascinating book examines how China's low-carbon policy experimentation is being institutionalized by mid-level bureaucratic entrepreneurs who mobilize the necessary political authority and implementation resources to translate proposed policy ideas into actions. Moving from experimentation to sustainable implementation is a notoriously challenging process, and Gong's unique focus on subnational climate leadership introduces a new actor missing from the existing policy innovation literature to help states adopt sustainable low-carbon solutions." --Jessica C. Teets, Middlebury College."Weila Gong's excellent book focuses our attention on the role of bridge leaders, essential mid-level bureaucrats who can make or break policy experimentation at the local level in China. Her fine-grained look at how local agency and capacity shape and sustain subnational low-carbon initiatives gives us a conceptual framework for evaluating the role of diverse localities in China's quest for carbon neutrality." -- Alex L. Wang, UCLA School of Law