Constance becomes first German city to declare “climate emergency”

The southern German city of Constance has become the first in the nation to pass a resolution declaring a climate emergency, according to a Deutsche Welle report. The resolution, which was passed unanimously by the city council on Thursday, was urged by the local chapter of the environmental group Fridays for Future, which said the city had committed to regularly providing reports to monitor progress in reducing its carbon emissions. "The Constance city council's climate emergency declaration is an important signal for the whole of Germany," the group said in a statement.

Several cities around the world, including Los Angeles, London and Vancouver, have recently passed similar resolutions, according to the report. On Thursday, the British Parliament did so as well. The Swiss city of Basel became the first local government in the German-speaking world to do so. The concept of a ‘climate emergency’ differs slightly from city to city, according to an explainer by Anne-Sophie Brändlin and Katharina Wecker for Deutsche Welle. While some local councils commit to specific targets — such as reaching zero emissions much earlier than their national government plans to — others promise to make climate change policy a priority.