Does municipal participation in service delivery matter? Service delivery for effective climate policy implementation

Decarbonising local public services is essential for implementing climate plans. Actors involved, such as utility companies and municipal departments, must balance financial, social and climate goals, often compromising the effectiveness of the ecological transition. While existing literature classifies service delivery arrangements, it offers limited insight into how these arrangements affect climate policy implementation and integration. This paper examines the hypothesis that greater involvement of market-oriented private providers leads to less consistent service delivery with climate mitigation programmes due to increased information asymmetry and coordination costs. It analyses four cities with differing arrangements: Zurich and Lausanne (Switzerland), where public actors are more involved, and Bologna and Padua (Italy), where municipalities rely on private or hybrid providers. Findings draw on 28 semi-structured interviews and relevant policy documents. The analysis suggests that stronger municipal control over service planning and oversight supports more effective climate policy implementation. This contributes to the literature on policy implementation and public management by identifying the institutional contexts that enable collaboration for resolving horizontal collective action dilemmas.