Orchestrating Local Climate Policy in the European Union: Inter‐Municipal Coordination and the Covenant of Mayors in Germany and France

332 Pages·2020·3.771 MB·English

by  Lena Bendlin

Energiepolitik und Klimaschutz
Energy Policy and Climate Protection
Lena Bendlin
Orchestrating Local
Climate Policy in
the European Union
Inter-Municipal Coordination
and the Covenant of Mayors
in Germany and France
Energiepolitik und Klimaschutz
Energy Policy and Climate Protection
Reihe herausgegeben von
Lutz Mez, Berlin, Deutschland
Achim Brunnengräber, Berlin, Deutschland
Diese Buchreihe beschäftigt sich mit den globalen Verteilungskämpfen um
knappe Energieressourcen, mit dem Klimawandel und seinen Auswirkungen
sowie mit den globalen, nationalen, regionalen und lokalen Herausforderun-
gen der umkämpften Energiewende. Die Beiträge der Reihe zielen auf eine
nachhaltige Energie- und Klimapolitik sowie die wirtschaftlichen Interessen,
Machtverhältnisse und Pfadabhängigkeiten, die sich dabei als hohe Hindernisse
erweisen. Weitere Themen sind die internationale und europäische Liberalisi-
erung der Energiemärkte, die Klimapolitik der Vereinten Nationen (UN), Anpas-
sungsmaßnahmen an den Klimawandel in den Entwicklungs-, Schwellen- und
Industrieländern, Strategien zur Dekarbonisierung sowie der Ausstieg aus der
Kernenergie und der Umgang mit den nuklearen Hinterlassenschaften.
Die Reihe bietet ein Forum für empirisch angeleitete, quantitative und international
vergleichende Arbeiten, für Untersuchungen von grenzüberschreitenden Trans-
formations-, Mehrebenen- und Governance-Prozessen oder von nationalen „best
practice“-Beispielen. Ebenso ist sie offen für theoriegeleitete, qualitative Untersu-
chungen, die sich mit den grundlegenden Fragen des gesellschaftlichen Wandels in
der Energiepolitik, bei der Energiewende und beim Klimaschutz beschäftigen.
This book series focuses on global distribution struggles over scarce energy
resources, climate change and its impacts, and the global, national, regional and
local challenges associated with contested energy transitions. The contributions
to the series explore the opportunities to create sustainable energy and climate
policies against the backdrop of the obstacles created by strong economic
interests, power relations and path dependencies. The series addresses such
matters as the international and European liberalization of energy sectors;
sustainability and international climate change policy; climate change adaptation
measures in the developing, emerging and industrialized countries; strategies
toward decarbonization; the problems of nuclear energy and the nuclear legacy.
The series includes theory-led, empirically guided, quantitative and qualitative
international comparative work, investigations of cross-border transformations,
governance and multi-level processes, and national "best practice"-examples. The
goal of the series is to better understand societal-ecological transformations for
low carbon energy systems, energy transitions and climate protection.
Reihe herausgegeben von
PD Dr. Lutz Mez PD Dr. Achim Brunnengräber
Freie Universität Berlin Freie Universität Berlin
Weitere Bände in der Reihe http://www.springer.com/series/12516
Lena Bendlin
Orchestrating Local
Climate Policy in
the European Union
Inter Municipal Coordination
‐
and the Covenant of Mayors
in Germany and France
Lena Bendlin
Deutsches Institut für Urbanistik – DIFU
Berlin, Germany
Dissertation Freie Universität Berlin, 2017
D188
Printed with the genereous support of the FAZIT-STIFTUNG and the German Association
of Female Academics (DAB).
ISSN 2626-2827 ISSN 2626-2835 (electronic)
Energiepolitik und Klimaschutz. Energy Policy and Climate Protection
ISBN 978-3-658-26505-2 ISBN 978-3-658-26506-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-26506-9
Springer VS
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Acknowledgements
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and it is no coincidence that a doctoral
thesis is often referred to as a baby – that, like all children, needs a lot of time
and attention to grow up. Now the time has come to let this child go out into the
big, wide world of academia, and to thank the many people who helped and sup-
ported me during the (also many) years of writing this thesis.
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Miranda
A. Schreurs for her inspiration, confidence, and support. She gave me the free-
dom to undertake an educational intellectual journey, and gave me a hand when
it was time to come to terms with it. More than that, she is an extraordinary men-
tor. I am much obliged to Philipp Lepenies for readily accepting to serve as my
second reviewer despite his manifold duties. For their disposition to bring in their
expertise to my dissertation commission, my thanks go to Sabine Kropp, Klaus
Jacob, and Jan Beermann.
I extend my thanks to those who made this research possible. My work was
supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the German Academic Exchange
Service, and the Ernst Reuter Society, and printed with the help of the FAZIT
foundation and the German Association of Female Academics whose funding is
gratefully acknowledged. The Covenant of Mayors, the Climate Alliance and
Energy Cities were kind enough to grant me access to their events and confer-
ences. 53 experts generously shared their knowledge and their precious time for
a research interview. My hope is that my results will justify their openness, and
inspire their work.
The academic village community backing me comprised many more people.
I would like to thank my colleagues at the Environmental Policy Research Center
and especially Kirsten Jörgensen for illuminative insights into their work, the
members of the PhD colloquium for their feedback and company, and Daphne
Stelter for her unweary advice and contagious smile throughout the doctoral pro-
cedure. A backbone of this project consisted of my writing group; I owe a debt
of gratitude to Corinna Altenburg, Richard Forrest, Fanny Frick, Sebastian
VI Acknowledgements
Mehling, Lisa Pettibone, Inken Reimer and Maik Günther for their continuous
support and priceless critical comments on my writing. I would also like to thank
the many discussants and feedback-givers I met at various conferences for their
help in refining my argumentation, in particular to Jörg Kemmerzell, Michèle
Knodt, and Anne Tews for the possibility to discuss my results with an expert
audience, and for sharing interview data; Henner Busch and Paul Fenton for our
inspirational exchange and collaboration; Martin Jänicke and Kerstin Tews for
their inspiring thoughts on the subject; Wolfram Lamping for his encouraging
feedback; and Kristine Kern for her challenging criticism that helped to sharpen
my argument.
I am grateful to my friends and family for their invaluable companionship,
and their encouragement in times of doubt. To name but a few, I would like to
thank Chrissy and Renate for their help with graphic design, and Anna, Tanya,
and Leonie for their support during the final spurt towards submission. Thanks
to my brother Robin for his proof that there is an afterlife to graduation, and for
cheering me on. A very special thank you goes to my parents Barbara and
Joachim who gave me the self-confidence that I could do this, and their trust, too.
Above all, I would like to thank my husband Kurt who supported me with un-
ending diligence and strength. Together we made it.
Contents
Summary .......................................................................................................... XI
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms ............................................................. XIII
List of Figures .............................................................................................. XVII
1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 1
1.1 The Importance of Coordinating Local Climate Policy ..................... 4
1.2 The Unknown Contribution of Orchestration .................................... 6
1.3 Research Design ................................................................................ 8
1.4 Summary and Outline ...................................................................... 10
2 Local Governments in European Multi-Level Climate Governance ..... 13
2.1 The European Union in Global Climate Governance ...................... 13
2.2 Modes of Governance in Multi-Level Systems ............................... 17
2.3 Challenges and Opportunities in European Climate Policy
Making ............................................................................................. 20
2.4 Local Governments in the European Multi-Level System ............... 25
2.5 Negotiating Competence Allocation in Multi-level Systems........... 28
2.6 Implications for Local Climate Governance .................................... 31
2.7 Summary .......................................................................................... 33
3 Theorizing Orchestration in European Climate Governance ................. 35
3.1 Orchestration as Local Climate Policy Coordination ...................... 37
3.1.1 Voluntary Non-state Programs in Climate Governance ............. 37
3.1.2 Coordination Requirements in Climate Governance .................. 40
3.1.3 Governing through Orchestration............................................... 43
3.2 Orchestration through the Covenant of Mayors ............................... 50
3.2.1 Introducing the Covenant of Mayors ......................................... 51
VIII Contents
3.2.1.1 The Covenant’s Mode of Operation ..................................... 51
3.2.1.2 Situating the Covenant of Mayors within European
Climate Governance ............................................................. 54
3.2.1.3 Uncertain Drivers, Agency, and Impact ............................... 58
3.2.2 Conceptualizing the Covenant of Mayors .................................. 63
3.2.2.1 The Covenant of Mayors Office as an Orchestrator ............. 65
3.2.2.2 Covenant Coordinators: Inter-municipal Associations as
Intermediaries ....................................................................... 68
3.2.2.3 Covenant Signatories: Municipalities as Target Actors ........ 71
3.3 Expected Theoretical Contributions ................................................ 72
4 Methodological Approach ..................................................................... 75
4.1 Case Study Research Design ........................................................... 75
4.1.1 A Case Study Approach to Research ......................................... 76
4.1.2 Results of Iterative Revision ...................................................... 77
4.1.3 Analytic Generalization ............................................................. 79
4.2 Case Selection.................................................................................. 81
4.2.1 Comparing Germany and France ............................................... 81
4.2.2 Selecting the Cases..................................................................... 84
4.2.3 Bounding the Cases .................................................................... 90
4.3 Qualitative Interview Research ........................................................ 92
4.3.1 Selection of Expert Interviewees ............................................... 93
4.3.2 Conduct of Expert Interviews .................................................... 95
4.3.3 Data Evaluation and Triangulation ............................................ 98
4.4 Methodological Challenges ........................................................... 101
4.4.1 Risk of Normative Distortions ................................................. 102
4.4.2 Limitations of Studying Contemporary Phenomena ................ 103
4.4.3 Pitfalls of Expert Interview-based Research ............................ 103
5 Inter-municipal Coordination in European Local Climate
Governance ......................................................................................... 107
5.1 Covenant Coordinators in Germany .............................................. 108
Contents IX
5.1.1 The German Framework for Inter-municipal Climate
Governance .............................................................................. 109
5.1.1.1 National and Regional Climate and Energy Policy............. 110
5.1.1.2 Local Governments within the Federal System .................. 114
5.1.1.3 Inter-municipal Cooperation within Regional Associations 118
5.1.1.4 Local Climate Governance ................................................. 120
5.1.2 Rhine-Neckar Region ............................................................... 123
5.1.2.1 Teaming up for Local Climate Policy ................................. 125
5.1.2.2 Disappointed Hopes in the Covenant of Mayors ................ 130
5.1.2.3 Case Summary .................................................................... 140
5.1.3 Stuttgart Region ....................................................................... 142
5.1.3.1 Matching Goals of Local Climate Policy ............................ 144
5.1.3.2 Limited Fit of Support to Local Needs ............................... 153
5.1.3.3 Case Summary .................................................................... 162
5.2 Covenant Coordinators in France .................................................. 163
5.2.1 The French Framework for Inter-municipal Climate
Governance .............................................................................. 164
5.2.1.1 National and Regional Climate and Energy Policy............. 164
5.2.1.2 Local Governments within the Decentralized System ........ 168
5.2.1.3 Inter-Municipal Cooperation within Intercommunalities ... 173
5.2.1.4 Local Climate Governance ................................................. 176
5.2.2 Greater Lyon ............................................................................ 178
5.2.2.1 Asserting the Metropolitan Level of Government .............. 181
5.2.2.2 Climate Leadership as a Building Block of a Political
Career.................................................................................. 188
5.2.2.3 Case Summary .................................................................... 191
5.2.3 Rennes Metropolis ................................................................... 192
5.2.3.1 An (Im)Perfect Covenant Dynamic .................................... 195
5.2.3.2 A Loss in Momentum ......................................................... 201
5.2.3.3 Rescaling Climate Policy in a Metropolis Under Way ....... 204