The travelling of global policy in the metropolitan region of Sorocaba (Brazil): the role of international organizations in shaping climate agendas

Abstract This article analyzes the travelling and territorialization of the Climate Agenda, focusing on SDG-13, from international organizations, understood as a particular form of informational infrastructure at a global scale, to its circulation and implementation in metropolitan and local contexts. From a topological perspective and using a process tracing methodological approach, this study investigates how international organizations, such as the United Nations (UN), UN-Habitat, and ICLEI, influence the formulation and institutionalization of the climate agenda in the Metropolitan Region of Sorocaba (MRS), Brazil. It explores how global climate frameworks are territorialized through municipal and metropolitan planning and governance, analyzing how policies are shaped across different levels of government. The analysis draws on strategic plans, legislation, institutional documents, and other policy outputs produced by the municipality of Sorocaba and regional actors since the MRS's institutionalization. The findings highlight how international organizations mediate local-global interactions, promote policy diffusion, and facilitate transnational knowledge exchange through financial, technical, and capacity-building mechanisms. However, as observed, this dynamic does not occur uniformly across the municipalities of the MRS, making the implementation of climate agendas a challenge to be overcome, especially due to institutional asymmetries and unequal governance capacities.