Cities have a key role in climate protection

Resilient Cities Congress of the Cities Network ICLEI in Bonn

The Paris Climate Agreement involves all levels of government in addressing climate change. At the local level, these are cities and municipalities. The ICLEI network of cities, which includes 22 German cities, is meeting in Bonn from 26 to 28 April for the "Resilient Cities Congress". Around 400 participants will exchange their experiences on climate protection measures and climate cooperation. The congress is an official part of the Talanoa Dialogue. Talanoa is a Fijian principle of decision-making and refers to an open dialogue that involves all stakeholders.

BMU State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth: "Cities and regions have a key role in climate protection. Worldwide, 1,500 cities are linked in the ICLEI network. In Bonn, city representatives from all over the world discuss what can be done for climate protection at the municipal level and how climate change can be countered. Ideally, the climate activities of all levels of government are coordinated. The Talanoa Dialogue is one way to organise this. It is also an opportunity to bring together voices from different actors around the world - including the visions and commitments of cities and regions - to sustain the positive momentum of Paris and stimulate the improvement of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2020."

Two examples of a German ICLEI member and an Asian city network illustrate climate protection efforts at the municipal level. Münster is one of the 22 German cities that is a member of the ICLEI network. The city relies on cooperation for climate protection. The local "Alliance for Climate Protection" aims to bring together relevant actors to jointly develop concrete local climate protection projects. At the same time, the actors involved in the alliance commit to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. In doing so, they contribute to the implementation of the ambitious climate goals of the city of Münster. By 2050, greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by 95% and final energy consumption by 50% compared to 1990. 21% CO2 reduction could already be achieved by 2015. The "100% Climate Protection Master Plan" translates the vision of the city of Münster into a concrete strategy until 2050. The Master Plan and the Alliance are funded within the framework of the National Climate Protection Initiative (NKI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment.

www.stadt-muenster.de/umwelt/klimaschutzkonzept-2020.html

The project "Ambitious City Promises - Climate-friendly urban development in South-East Asian cities" is also about bundling the activities of local civil society actors in the sense of ambitious municipal commitments. The international city network ICLEI is involved in the project of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and supports the development of holistic climate strategies in Hanoi (Vietnam), Jakarta (Indonesia) and Pasig City (Philippines). An important project partner is the government of the Seoul metropolitan region (Korea), which already published an ambitious mitigation plan in 2015. The "Seoul Pledge" envisages greenhouse gas reductions of 25% by 2020 and 40% by 2030 compared to 2005 and defines concrete measures for the sectors of energy, transport, resource management, water, health, urban agriculture and urban planning.

www.international-climate-initiative.com/de/nc/details/?projectid=543&cHash=9a405fa6e545b0dbd9b433a3def344b2

Keywords: 100% EEs, Stakeholders, Bonn, Climate protection, Communities, News Blog Europe (without DE), News Blog NRW, SDG 2030, Environmental policy

Published 22 May 2021

OB-Barometer 2021: Climate protection and mobility are increasingly important for cities

For the mayors of German cities, climate protection and mobility remain the most important topics despite the pandemic. The OB-Barometer 2021 of the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) shows a clear trend change in the topic of inner city development, which is gaining strongly in importance.

Berlin. This year's Mayor Barometer of the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) is dominated by the corona pandemic. It is therefore not surprising that, when asked about the most important topics for cities at the moment, the city leaders most frequently named coping with the crisis and its consequences, at 69 percent. The topics of "climate, energy, sustainability" recorded a renewed increase in importance with 45 percent. If one disregards the special situation of Corona, "climate" is currently even in first place. This policy area already showed a strong increase in importance in 2020, and in 2021 the city leaders rated it as even more important than in January/February 2020. But when asked about the most important topics for the future, 53 percent of the mayors named "climate, energy, sustainability" ahead of mobility (50 percent) and digitalization (37 percent).

The fact that climate protection and mobility are considered so important at the moment and with a view to the future underlines the great importance that city leaders attach to environmental issues. "The exciting question of whether Corona will push the issue of climate protection into the background or raise additional awareness seems to have been decided in German cities. The mayors want to develop their city into the future in a climate-friendly way and with adapted mobility," comments Difu Institute Director Prof. Dr. Carsten Kühl on the results of the current Mayor Barometer 2021.

The OB-Barometer 2021 reveals a clear trend change in the topic of "inner city development". Here, the city leaders see a strong increase in importance both now and in the future: The topic has gained attention in recent years due to the increasing online trade. The Corona pandemic has massively intensified this trend: more and more shops are closing, more offices remain empty since many people work from home offices, and the cultural scene has also had to move into the digital space - many city centres are losing their quality of stay. The inner cities are facing a huge upheaval, which poses great challenges for the municipalities. Helmut Dedy, Chief Executive of the German Association of Cities, says: "We need more diversity, beyond retail. That's why the cities are working on new concepts for city centres and district centres: we want more space for encounters, greenery, culture, sport, crafts and housing. For this to succeed, we need a federal city centre funding programme."

Digitization continues to be one of the top issues, but has not gained renewed importance at the municipal level. This is presumably due to the requirements and already made experiences and changes during the corona pandemic. The topics of smart city, housing and finance continue to be among the most important current fields of action. The financial situation of the municipalities is not given greater urgency, which could be due to the fact that the cities assess it roughly the same as in the two previous years due to fiscal compensation measures of the federal government and the states. "However, it is also clear from the results of the survey that the assessment of the financial situation is a snapshot and will not automatically be so for municipalities in the future. Mayors cite the loss of tax revenue as the second biggest challenge in the corona crisis. And fiscal policy is the policy area where municipalities are second most likely to demand better framework conditions from the federal and state governments," says project manager Dr. Beate Hollbach-Grömig.

The topic of corona measures and corona consequences will soon lose its explosiveness in local politics, according to the assessment of the city leaders: More than two thirds of the city leaders name the topic as an important field of action at the moment, but among the important topics for the future, "Corona" is only in second to last place.

According to the OB-Barometer 2021, the mayors' wishes have changed only slightly with regard to the fields of action in which they would like better framework conditions from the federal states, the federal government or the EU: The wish for support in the field of digitalization has gained in importance (71 percent). This is presumably mainly due to the bottlenecks that became apparent during the crisis - for example, in the transmission of data from health offices, the possibility for administrative employees to work from home, or in the digital infrastructure equipment of schools. The next places are taken by the fields of action finance, housing policy and transport, in which the weightings have shifted only slightly. Compared to previous years, there is continuity in the "broad lines" of municipal policy - and the desired improvements in the framework conditions for local work.

Detailed results, graphics, charts and photos of the OB-Barometer 2021 and the previous year's evaluations are available on the Difu website:

www.difu.de/16644

Source: DIFU-PM of 19.5.2021

Keywords:
Procurement, DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, Communities, Mobility, City