The making of a climate emergency response: Examining the attributes of climate emergency plans

Abstract

Climate emergency declarations are amongst the strongest statement from governments in the face of global warming. At least 1217 local governments have so far declared a climate emergency; however, on a national government level, only seven such declarations have been made, most of which were in 2019. The exponential rise of local governments declaring a climate emergency is significant, and developing an understanding of how these responses are operationalised is critical. Previous studies indicate that local government practitioners conceptualise climate change as a complex emergency but tend to suggest ‘business as usual’ responses, unfit to deal with this complexity. Since these governme..