Review: As details about global warming become more precise so thoughts on reactions also change scale. Ideas of global action similar to Kyoto give way to more local responses that aim to create small but actual changes to human action. The aim of this text is to describe one action (reducing carbon load) in the context of sustainable cities in general and the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) in particular.

We start with a brief introduction which outlines the concept of global warming and sets it in the context of the need for sustainable cities. From here the text is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the theory and practice of global governance. Chapter two starts by attempting to create a framework for global governance in terms of regime theory. It continues by looking at sustainability and types of local governance. Chapter thee looks at politics rather than management. This starts with an overview of Kyoto and its formation and continues with an examination of how politics is affected by scale (with examples from the US, Australia etc.). Part two moves on to look at the cities named in the CCP work. To start with, there's a very brief overview of governance in each of the 3 nations involved - US, UK and Australia. This is followed by 6 chapters detailing the cases studies. The interesting point about these cases is that each one keeps within the program but looks at a very different approach to the issue. For example, chapter five's Newcastle upon Tyne, uses the CCP to reinforce ideas of energy saving that it has been carrying out for over 30 years. The local authority uses CCP to focus more on its planning powers to control energy usage in dwellings. Chapter six is Cambridgeshire - not a city but a rapidly developing region centred around Cambridge. Here, the attempt is to make public transport more responsive to climate needs. Leicester, our next case, has had more problems than most. A rapidly growing city combined with high levels of social and economic inequality could easily 'forget' such issues as climate change. However, the city has fallen back on its history of innovative governance (cf Newcastle) to look at energy management in housing. The next case moves to the US where Denver has used the CCP ideas to implement a widespread approach to greenhouse gas reduction. It has a long history of concern but we find that this is not enough to overcome obstacles - Denver is still trying to effect change but sees opposition as a key factor. Still in North America, Milwaukee provides us with an overview of another perspective. It doesn't explicitly use the CCP idea but does try to combat global warming through the use of the building codes. However, there's no key figure in the local government championing the cause of greenhouse reductions so it the ideals noted may not be achieved. The final case comes from Newcastle in New South Wales. Named after its UK forbear it shares with it the problems of a structural shift in the economy and concomitant social and economic issues. In noted contrast to the national position, Newcastle City has become very involved in both national CCP schemes and in reducing its own needs. Part three consists of two chapters noting the key ideas. Chapter 11 reviews the lessons we can learn from each of the case studies whilst chapter 12 looks at how this can be spread wider. The key lesson here is the value of a range of networks for communication.

This is an interesting text. It provides a clear set of examples showing the problems that those actually facing the need to reduce global greenhouse gases face. It provides an opportunity of examining one particular program for local governance and shows how it is used globally. For those wanting more detail on local governance this is a good place to start.