Municipalities in climate emergency: Tracing the power of narratives in the implementation of policy measures

More than 2,100 municipalities worldwide have declared a "climate emergency", including more than a hundred in Germany. Despite the Paris Climate Agreement, greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. By using an emergency narrative, environmental groups hope to empower ("power to") and to encourage joint climate action in their municipalities ("power with"). Historically, however, emergency laws have been used primarily to suppress class struggles and prevent popular mobilization ("power over"). This legacy is at the root of many concerns about climate emergency declarations. Moreover, narratives on the need for climate protection are increasingly challenged. In particular, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has given new impetus to narratives about energy sovereignty and security. The paper traces climate emergency narratives in conjunction with the power of municipalities and the implementation of policy measures. For example, as a result of the Ukraine crisis and new narratives on energy security, and although the city council was the first to declare the state of climate emergency in the federal state of Saxony in 2019, a new gas-fired power plant in Leipzig did not go into operation as planned in 2022. Instead, the city continues to use climate-damaging lignite. Based on an analysis of council resolutions and minutes, position statements and press articles, the paper examines for a sample of German municipalities which narratives dominate and to what extent they have promoted, or prevented, the implementation of climate mitigation and adaptation measures at the local level. The sample includes those municipalities, which were the first in their federal states to declare a climate emergency in 2019 and 2020: Berlin (Pankow) (BE), Bremen (HB), Erlangen (BY), Jena (TH), Kalbe (ST), Kiel (SH), Konstanz (BW), Landau (RP), Leipzig (SN), Ludwigslust (MV), Potsdam (BB), Rüsselsheim am Main (HE), Saarbrücken (SL), Tönisvorst (NW) und Weyhe (NI).