The four motors initiative: cooperation and governability, amid energy resources scarcity and climate change dynamics

D. Rajmil, L. Morales, J. Masllorens, B. O'Callaghan

Abstract

Since 1988, the Four Motors Initiative has offered a joint cooperative framework to the
territories of Catalonia, Baden-Württemberg (BW), Lombardy and Rhône-Alpes (currently
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, AURA). In this, the paradiplomacy means of non-state actors and
regions have been evolving to a more diverse political participation of regional territories in what
was once a traditional matter. The network has expanded from purely economic aspects to a
a diverse portfolio of activities. The complexity of the regions and the cooperative elements that
have emerged from the working framework will be examined in a comparative framework
offered to explore the regions; energy needs during times when the transition towards
sustainable energy models are generating significant pressures due to the growing speed of
environmental deterioration and its implications for climate change as a result of global
warming. This paper proposes a research framework examining how the different regions are
developing energy resource management and related policies, their interlinked dynamics, and
their implications for water management as a critical resource for economic development and
progress.

Initially, there was a clear distinction between regionalization as the outcome of the natural
location phenomenon which led to closer economic ties and regionalism, which intended to
create preferential trading arrangements (Lorenz, 1992). This remained true for most of the
advanced industrialized regions in Europe, Asia and America. Nonetheless, the development of
globalization paradigms pushed regional actors and local actors to be integrated within
international geopolitical dynamics and decisions hand in hand with financial and economic
development. Since the 1970s, financial markets have evolved towards a gradual state of
globalization, stirring further structural change and transformation including developments in
information processing technologies and governments ‘deregulation policies (Allen 2023:1).

There is currently a gap in the academic literature, where conclusive results – only indications –
are lacking on the climate impact on existing energy resources policies and derived
consequences, such as the deficit use of alternative sources or the so named green transition.
This project seeks to carry out an academic contribution, based on economic and policy
indicators, which will help to define the environmental hazards and climate change in the
scarcity contexts in order to contribute to the better definition of public policies.