Climate change, as one of the most pressing problems of our time, affects different levels of governance. At the international level, countries negotiate to find common ground on various topics related to climate change, but most importantly on how to share the burden of mitigating global warming and its effects on humankind. At the national level, national governments formulate greenhouse gas reduction (GHG) targets, set out climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, and formulate respective framework policies. But when it comes to the implementation of these targets, strategies, or policies, the protagonists are most often local governments or administrations. This is particularly the case for adaption measures, but also in the traffic, energy, or building sector, i.e., such sectors that concern infrastructural matters. In these areas, local communities have a high problem-solving capacity due to local knowledge and experience and should therefore engage actively in climate protection or adaptation endeavors (Domorenok & Zito, 2021; van der Heijden, 2021).

This special issue on “Local Climate Governance” brings together 11 research teams that engage with a wide diversity of topics related to local climate policy, as well as different theoretical and methodological approaches. In this editorial, we summarize the most important findings of this special issue, link it to the most recent research on local climate policy, and make some suggestions for further research.

气候变化作为当今时代最紧迫的问题之一，影响着不同层面的治理。在国际层面，各国通过谈判寻找与气候变化相关的各种议题的共同点，但最重要的是如何分担减轻全球变暖及其对人类影响的负担。在国家层面，各国政府制定温室气体减排目标，制定减缓和适应气候变化战略，并制定各自的框架政策。但在实施这些目标、战略或政策时，主角往往是地方政府或行政部门。对于适应措施尤其如此，而且在交通、能源或建筑部门（即涉及基础设施问题的部门）也是如此。在这些地区，当地社区由于当地的知识和经验而具有很高的解决问题的能力，因此应该积极参与气候保护或适应工作（Domorenok & Zito，2021；  van der Heijden，  2021）。

本期“地方气候治理”特刊汇集了 11 个研究团队，他们涉及与地方气候政策相关的各种主题以及不同的理论和方法。在这篇社论中，我们总结了本期特刊最重要的发现，将其与当地气候政策的最新研究联系起来，并为进一步研究提出了一些建议。