Regional climate and energy strategies: actors, responsibilities, and roles J. Palm Department of Thematic Studies – Technology and Social Change, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden. Tel: +46 13285615, Fax: +46 13284461, E-mail: jenny.palm@liu.se Abstract: Since 2008, the Swedish regional authorities, i.e., the County Administrative Boards (CABs), have been exhorted to produce regional climate and energy strategies indicating how sustainable energy systems might develop in the future. I analyze the CAB role and mandate to coordinate and promote the development of regional climate and energy strategies. How do other regional and local actors perceive the CAB role, mandate, and legitimacy in relation to work on regional climate and energy strategies? Case studies were conducted in two counties where CAB representatives, municipal politicians, municipal climate and energy consultants, and Regional Energy Agency and Regional Cooperation Council representatives were interviewed in-depth. The results of the interviews indicate that it was difficult for interviewed actors to explain how the tasks and responsibilities differed between the CAB, Regional Energy Agency, and Regional Cooperation Council; the representatives of these three bodies also experienced this difficulty. The CAB’s leading role in the energy strategy work was accepted by the other stakeholders, but only because the other regional actors currently lacked the resources to take on such work. In the future, the Regional Cooperation Councils will be the main legitimate CAB competitors, willing to take over the strategic energy work. Keywords: regional planning; strategy; accountability; legitimacy, network; planning theory, governance 1. Introduction In Sweden, the regional administrative level has generally been weak while the municipalities have been in a strong position. However, since 2008 the Swedish regional authorities, i.e., the County Administrative Boards (CAB), have been exhorted to produce regional climate and energy strategies indicating how sustainable energy systems might develop in the future. In this paper, I will discuss these strategic plans in relation to questions concerning their legitimacy and accountability. The central government wants to strengthen the role of CABs in developing sustainable energy systems, and accordingly chose to assign them coordination responsibility [1]. The CAB role and tasks were debated by the Committee on Public Sector Responsibilities (Ansvarskommittén). From 2003 to 2008, this Committee was commissioned to analyze the current system of public administration and to determine whether changes were required in the division of responsibilities and in structural arrangements in order to meet the challenges public sector services will face in the future [2]. To remedy these structural deficiencies, the Committee proposed a new regional system of public administration with clearer roles and a clearer division of responsibilities, and regionalization that is the same for the state and the local government sector. As regards regional development, development tasks characterized by self-governance were distinguished from tasks that were more purely a matter of carrying out government agency mandates. Consequently, it was proposed that County Councils be replaced by directly elected regional authorities with overall responsibility for regional development and health and medical care. The Committee on Public Sector Responsibilities wanted this regional development mandate to be assigned to the newly established regional authorities. At the same time, the CAB tasks and mandate would be concentrated, focusing on central government coordination, 3404