Introduction

Abstract

The Paris agreement recognized local governments as crucial contributors to mitigating climate change (Hale 2016). In the years of stalemate within international climate negotiations before 2015, a groundswell of voluntary local climate action raised hopes for an alternative, decentralized approach to global climate governance (Betsill and Rabe 2009; Bulkeley and Kern 2006; Corfee-Morlot et al. 2009). An exemplary attempt by the European Union (EU) to incentivize and coordinate local climate policy is the Covenant of Mayors, the voluntary climate commitment scheme with the largest number of participating municipalities worldwide. More than 7,000 local governments signed the Covenant pledging to achieve the European climate and energy targets.