Climate Governance and Sustainable Development: A Sight to the Intermediate and Border Cities of Ecuador

Although urban areas in Latin America are not major GHG emitters, they play crucial, little-studied roles in the field of climate change. In Ecuador, there are 21 intermediate cities, which include at least 7 border cities. Intermediate cities are key to achieving sustainable urban development, merged with rural networks and environmental systems. The present work aims to conduct a sociodemographic characterization of intermediate and border cities of Ecuador and to develop a mapping of climate change actors. Three intermediate and border cities (Esmeraldas, Loja and Nueva Loja), belonging to the country's regions: Coast, Highlands and Amazonian Lowland, respectively, were analyzed. The methodology was proposed from a qualitative-quantitative approach, with two stages: 1) Identification of the sociodemographic structure and distribution through the survey of secondary sources; and 2) Development of a mapping of actors based on a given methodology, which groups four steps: a) Clarify the objectives of the mapping, b) Define the variables and design the scheme, c) Collect the information, and d) Analyze the mapping of actors. The results contrast the social characteristics and demographic indicators between these cities and the climate governance instruments. Based on these data, a dynamic graphic mapping was developed that identifies the active strategic actors of climate change at the national, provincial and cantonal levels, determining the National Government as the leading actor of climate governance, and the absence of key actors such as media, journalists and private companies.