Governance lies at the heart of overcoming the Climate Emergency, where political barriers often impede the implementation of technical and administrative solutions. This paper examines subnational investment in the UK as a critical governance challenge, arguing that its competitive and economically driven frameworks exacerbate inequalities between local authorities. Drawing on SHAPE (Social Sciences, Humanities and the Arts for People and the Economy) research and a case study of Aberdeen City Council’s hydrogen transport initiatives, the paper derives guiding principles for transforming subnational investment, advocating for an approach that prioritises collaboration over competition, strives for an equitable distribution of roles and responsibilities, and ultimately empowers local leadership. This reassessment is a critical step forward, acknowledging that business-as-usual governance is failing to accelerate progress towards Net Zero. By rethinking our foundational principles, we open the door to transformative change, ensuring that subnational investment aligns with the strengths of local authorities and the urgency and scale of the challenges we face. This article is published in the thematic collection ‘The critical role of governance for decarbonisation at pace: learning the lessons from SHAPE research’, edited by Sarah Birch, Hilary Graham, Andrew Jordan, Tim O’Riordan, Henry Richards.

This article introduces the thematic collection, ‘The critical role of governance for decarbonisation at pace: learning the lessons from SHAPE research’, edited by Sarah Birch, Hilary Graham, Andrew Jordan, Tim O’Riordan, and Henry Richards. With confirmation that global average temperatures in 2024 exceeded 1.5° above pre-industrial levels, and near continuous news of extreme weather events around the world, there seems little to dispute the characterisation of UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, that ‘every country must deliver and play their rightful part’. Guterres and many others point to the urgency of action, even though it is palpably sluggish. In the collection, we argue that SHAPE (Social Science, Humanities, and the Arts for People, Economy and environment) research provides the essential lynchpin for policymakers to understand people, societies, economies, and cultures and what works in practice to bring about the transformative changes needed to respond to this challenge. The common thread of this collection is governance. Governance provides the political and civic mechanisms to deliberate and make inclusive decisions based on evidence and collective judgements about our shared future. The collection features crucial policy insights drawn from SHAPE research to advance the principles and practices of consensual governance, and to help navigate ‘an exit off the highway to climate hell’.