By Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Paul Smoke and Serdar Yilmaz. Many people, including academic researchers and practitioners, do not see a connection between the fight against climate change and subnational governments. Although subnational governments are important actors in climate change response, their role has not received as much attention as it merits. Subnational governments are often responsible for land use planning and enforcement, water and power utilities, building codes, waste disposal, transport systems and urban management, among others.