In this last video, Mirjam Harmelink shows examples from the circle of influence. In this circle, local authorities take up the role of the stimulator, facilitator, and communicator. She will show examples of instruments city authorities deploys to raise awareness of climate change, entice target groups to change their behaviour and stimulate investments in measures that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Key takeaways

• Mirjam shows examples from the circle of influence. Which is the circle where local authorities take up the role of the stimulator, facilitator, and communicator.
• To overcome a lack of knowledge on climate change and inform stakeholders on actions they can take, authorities deploy city-wide information campaigns, for example, putting billboards around the city, producing YouTube videos, and setting up websites to inform the public.
• Financial instruments aim to provide incentives to stimulate desired behaviour with actors or introduce financial penalties to discourage undesired behaviour. This includes, e.g., energy and carbon taxes, fiscal instruments, and subsidy schemes. Local governments usually cannot levy energy and carbon taxes. This is arranged at the state or federal level. Also, the size of local subsidy budgets in most countries is relatively small compared to federal, state, or sub-national budgets. This means that the impact of these local subsidies is somewhat limited.