Many cities and municipalities are very active in the fight against climate change. But why? In an article on municipal climate protection in the just-published issue 1/25 of the Journal of Environmental Policy and Law (ZfU), Thomas Döring and Michael Thöne analyse this observation which is, at first glance, counterintuitive from a fiscal federalism perspective. On closer inspection, however, these activities are as economically well-founded as they are necessary – not least in view of the growing importance of municipalities as climate protection actors at the international level.