France, March 31 -- In the 2020 local elections several major cities, including Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Lyon, elected green mayors for the first time.
The "green wave" felt like a turning point for the environmental movement and political ecology. The Covid pandemic, an increasing amount of climate-related natural disasters, including a heatwave in the summer of 2019, and youth climate protests supported by the likes of Greta Thunberg had put environmental issues to the forefront.
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Since then, economic concerns have pushed climate change to the back burner, and the shift was reflected in the 2026 election results.
The Green mayors of Bordeaux and Strasbourg were defea...