Cities present a unique challenge to climate governance, while they are a primary driver of climate change due to their disproportionately high levels of global energy consumption, they are also particularly vulnerable to its consequences. Recently, a trend has emerged of sustainable city initiatives that aim to develop urban climate policies on a local scale to allow the transition to a low carbon society. However, climate change transcends political and administrative borders which cannot be addressed through isolated climate policy. This suggests the need for a governance network that acts at multiple levels and integrates a variety of stakeholders as suggested by multi-level governance theory. This thesis aims to identify the optimal design of a multi-level governance system to maximize the chances for success of sustainable cities initiatives. The City of Berlin is used as a case study to examine the potential of its current climate policy framework and its aim to become a leading city in climate action. Based on interviews with experts of the policy process, this analysis determines that an optimal multi-level governance system would require effective dialogue between players at multiple levels, enhanced streamlining policy development and distributing democratic accountability with the national level as the central player.

Das Engagement und die Investitionen von Bürgerinnen und Bürgern stellen eine zentrale treibende Kraft der Energiewende dar. Derzeit befindet sich fast die Hälft der Stromerzeugungskapazitäten aus erneuerbaren Energien in der Hand von privaten Kleinanlegern. Obwohl der Erhalt der Akteursvielfalt ein politisch klar definiertes Ziel ist, birgt das novellierte Förderverfahren des EEG das Risiko eines Rückgangs der Bürgerenergie und der Abnahme des Wettbewerbs im Markt der erneuerbaren Energien. Zwar wird es auch in Zukunft Bürgerengagement für erneuerbare Energien geben. Allerdings wird das Ausschreibungsverfahren voraussichtlich zu stärker zentralisierten Besitzstrukturen der Erzeugungsanlagen führen. Es ist zu befürchten, dass dies die Dynamik des Bürgerengagements für die Energiewende massiv eindämmt und die gesellschaftliche Akzeptanz der Energiewendeprojekte im Stromsektor abnimmt.

This report maps the regulatory features underpinning prosumer activities in Germany. It is structured according to a case study design which was developed to compare different countries and to draw respective lessons on policies which enable the prosumer uptake. With a total installed capacity of 38 GW (2015) PV power has reached a stage of systemic importance for the whole power system. Although residential PV (<10 kWp) accounts for only 13 percent of total installed PV capacity, it is an important segment for several reasons. “Prosuming” — although never defined as an official term in Germany — is both a subject and a driver of the adaptive legislation on the RES support scheme and on system integration of RES. It is the result of a dynamic incentive structure set by both regulatory provisions as well as by market developments and the permanent interplay between these factors, rather than as a result of a targeted prosumer policy. Thus, the challenge this case study is confronted with is to map these factors and their respective interplay over a rather long period of time.