Potentials of Climate Emergency Declarations for degrowth transformations. The ambivalent stance of German municipalities in conflicts over a post-fossil future

Abstract

This paper addresses the scope for action by municipalities in a climate emergency and places it in the framework of ecomodern (urban) policy. We analyse the way in which two German ‘climate emergency municipalities’ translate conflicts of post-fossil transformation into concrete political and planning strategies. Although more than 2,200 authorities around the world have already declared a climate emergency, research on the impact of these resolutions on the political orientation of municipalities is very limited. Our research focus is on the (potentially agonistic) treatment of conflicts in planning. We argue that in times of a socio-ecological crisis, success in conflict resolution cannot refer to appeasement and depoliticisation. Instead, we propose a framework of five criteria, based on critical theory on ecomodern strategies, planning processes and degrowth. Thus, this practice-related and explorative paper connects empirical insights from the German cities of Constance and Berlin with an innovative normative framework. The findings tell a complex story of an, at least partial, admission of the failure of previous climate mitigation strategies, a lack of social institutions of limits, an instrumental relation to nature and a disregard for social injustices. The paper discusses how municipalities, in the context of ongoing tensions over the post-fossil transformation in Germany, on the one hand hold on to business-as-usual approaches, but on the other hand also set political impulses for change.

Upwind Despite Headwind? Degrowth Transformations Amidst Shrinkage and Eroding Democracy in an East German Small Town

“…As has been argued more comprehensively elsewhere (Brokow-Loga & Eckardt, 2020;Brokow-Loga & Krüger, 2023), this view of the individual sectors and thematic areas of planning and municipal policy is insufficient to address the totality of the transformation. Rather, a comprehensive view of the ascribed roles and power relations in the local context is needed to examine the heterogeneous motivations, drivers, and hurdles for municipal degrowth in shrinking regions.…”

“…To this end, the Municipal Degrowth Network and the Postgrowth Cities Coalition were founded in 2021 and 2023, respectively (Postgrowth Cities Coalition, n.d.). Previous operationalizations either focus on the differentiation of municipal sectors such as housing and transport (Khmara & Kronenberg, 2022), the demystification of vanguard cities (Krähmer, 2022), or the role of conflicting interpretations of nature (Brokow-Loga & Krüger, 2023). Until now, much of the research on urban degrowth bypasses the shrinking periphery, with Khmara and Kronenberg's (2023) comparative analysis as an exception.…”