CLIMATE CHANGE, POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY, AND CITIZENS’ EVALUATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT RESPONSE IN SKARDU, GILGIT-BALTISTAN, PAKISTAN

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between government responsiveness, transparency, procedural fairness, citizens' participation and political accountability with citizens' assessment of local government climate response in Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan. A quantitative cross sectional survey was done among 402 adult urban and rural residents. The strongest predictors of citizens' evaluation of local climate response were government responsiveness and political accountability. There was also strong positive impact of procedural fairness and citizen participation, and a smaller direct effect for transparency, once political accountability was accounted for in the model. The mediation analysis revealed positive indirect effects of all four governance processes via political accountability. Evaluation of the climate governance assessment is not only conducted on the services that are provided, but also on how fast, fair, open and accountable public institutions are.