PUBDIPLO RESEARCH SEMINAR SERIES 2026–2027
The Environmental Diplomacy of Cities
November 12, 2026 · 2:00–4:00 p.m.
DICEN – IFIS – Université Gustave Eiffel
6–8 Cours du Danube, Erasme Building, 77700 Serris (RER A: Val d’Europe)
Hybrid seminar · Registration required
Within its annual seminar series examining the question “What Is Public Diplomacy?”, the PubDiplo project is organizing a session on the environmental diplomacy of cities.
Cities are playing an increasingly prominent role in international environmental governance. They participate in transnational networks, develop international partnerships, contribute to conferences, and seek recognition for their ecological transition policies beyond their own territories. This evolution has been examined through the concepts of city diplomacy, paradiplomacy, and multilevel governance.
This session uses the environmental diplomacy of cities to examine the boundaries of these concepts. At what point can the international activity of a local government be described as diplomatic? How should we distinguish decentralized cooperation, city diplomacy, territorial communication, place branding, and public diplomacy? Does the international promotion of an environmental policy or a “green city” model constitute public diplomacy? What roles do narratives, images, indicators, digital platforms, and reputational devices play in these processes?
Environmental policy provides a particularly productive setting for addressing these questions because it connects local public action, international cooperation, the circulation of models, and communication. A mobility policy, green infrastructure project, or resilience program can simultaneously function as a territorial instrument and as a resource for international visibility. Cities also operate within configurations that bring together national governments, transnational networks, international organizations, businesses, experts, and local actors.
The seminar will bring together perspectives from communication studies, international relations, urban studies, political science, and environmental studies. Drawing on French, Chinese, and international cases, it asks a broader question: What does the environmental internationalization of cities reveal about the actors, practices, and contemporary boundaries of public diplomacy?
Program
| Time | Speaker and presentation |
|---|---|
| 2:00–2:30 p.m. | Nathalie Fabry Professor of Information and Communication Sciences, DICEN / Université Gustave Eiffel Southern Cities as Catalysts for Climate Action: International Networks, Action Agendas, and Urban Resilience |
| 2:30–3:00 p.m. | Sylvain Zeghni Associate Professor (HDR) of Economics, LVMT / Université Gustave Eiffel Environmental Strategies in Southeast Asian Cities: Governance, Finance, and Urban Justice in the Face of Climate Challenges |
| 3:00–3:30 p.m. | Zhao Alexandre Huang Associate Professor (HDR) of Information and Communication Sciences, DICEN / Université Gustave Eiffel Environment as a New Narrative: China’s Struggle for Green Discourse Power in Digital Diplomacy |
| 3:30–4:00 p.m. | Discussion |
Presentation Abstracts
Southern Cities as Catalysts for Climate Action: International Networks, Action Agendas, and Urban Resilience
Long excluded from international climate negotiations dominated by nation-states, cities—particularly those in the Global South—are now emerging as key players in climate action. Building on the Paris Agreement (COP21, 2015) and related multilateral frameworks, this presentation analyzes two major levers through which urban communities in the Global South influence climate policy: participation in transnational networks (ICLEI, C40, and the Global Taskforce) and contributions to the Action Agenda. Using Colombia as a case study, it shows how these cities are shifting climate policy toward adaptation and resilience while demanding direct access to international climate finance. Their growing integration is reshaping global climate governance while revealing persistent tensions between local ambitions and the structural constraints faced by countries in the Global South.
Environmental Strategies in Southeast Asian Cities: Governance, Finance, and Urban Justice in the Face of Climate Challenges
Southeast Asian megacities combine rapid growth, ecological crises, and significant socio-spatial inequalities. Their responses to climate impacts are shaped by institutional arrangements, historical trajectories, and global geopolitical positioning. Comparing Surabaya, Jakarta, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Penang, and Cebu through an environmental justice lens, this presentation argues that resilience policies remain dominated by technocratic, neoliberal, and infrastructure-centered approaches that can produce eco-gentrification and green grabbing. These dynamics disproportionately affect marginalized populations and the informal economy. The presentation concludes by examining the political and financial levers needed to move beyond exclusionary approaches and build urban development that is fair, sustainable, and inclusive.
Environment as a New Narrative: China’s Struggle for Green Discourse Power in Digital Diplomacy
This research analyzes environmental narratives produced and circulated on X in 2025 by three major Chinese national media outlets: Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network (CGTN), and People’s Daily. From a digital diplomacy perspective, it examines how these narratives contribute to green discursive power and a strategy of material-discursive normalization, thereby legitimizing a Chinese model of ecological modernization. The analysis highlights three findings. First, the narratives emphasize biodiversity, low-carbon transition, green technologies, and international cooperation. Second, Chinese cities are presented as territorial evidence of effective environmental governance. Third, the ideological concepts of ecological civilization and new quality productive forces are connected indirectly through the registers of green development, innovation, and international responsibility, portraying China as an ecological, technological, and responsible power.
Registration
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