German cities, their climate mitigation activities, and the potential of city-partnerships

Abstract

While nation states debate on climate policy at an international scale, at the local level, cities across the globe have engaged in mitigation activities. This study analyses municipal climate measures, urban mitigation performance, Introduction and the role of city-networks in Germany. It also examines the potential Research design of carbon offsets in the form of CDM in north-south city-partnerships. Cities’ mitigation activities All cities covered by the survey have implemented mitigation City cooperations measures, with energy provision and municipal buildings being the Conclusion most popular sectors. Measures in the transport sector are hardly in the Acknowledgements focus of cities, neither are regulative measures. Mitigation performance References of German cities is not far from the German average (including the Wall-fall effect in east German cities). Participation in city-networks did not coincide with better mitigation performance, and carbon offsetting via CDM project development has not been an issue in north-south city-partnerships. Cities might shift some attention to the transport sector and to regulative modes of climate governance. Though debates may arise from such a shift, these two are probably necessary elements in the required transformational shift towards a sustainable urban climate and energy future. CDM project development in city-partnerships requires integration of economic stakeholders, and may benefit from external support (for instance, capacity building).