Innovations in european climate governance and their impact on local climate policy: An analysis of German major cities

Abstract

Cities and urban regions are not only the main originators of global climate change but particularly places where innovations towards a low carbon transition take place. Notably in the European context, local climate change policies are embedded in a dense structure of multilevel governance arrangements. On the level of the European Union, various instruments address climate change. With regard to climate change mitigation, policies usually are part of general long-term strategies, like the Climate and Energy Package of 2008 and its successor, the Climate and Energy Framework of 2014. This chapter concentrates on two facets of multilevel governance: first, the involvement of cities in vertical climate governance and second, their participation in horizontal structures of climate governance. The European Commission became an actor in this arena not only by setting up funding schemes but also by the founding of the Covenant of Mayors. The main research question of the chapter is: Does the inclusion of cities in multilevel governance structures and particularly the Covenant of Mayors have an impact on local climate policy? While vertical and horizontal activities show both a significant influence on the scope of local climate policy, membership in the Covenant seems to be rather an add-on for cities that are already active in climate change mitigation.