Min. 8:16; Video from 7.1.2020; Ed.: MWSP Mannheim
Keywords: Stock, Barracks conversion, News Blog Baden-Württemberg, Quarters
Min. 8:16; Video from 7.1.2020; Ed.: MWSP Mannheim
30.06.2020 - 16 players in the German financial sector, with assets of more than €5.5 trillion and over 46 million customer connections in Germany, have signed a voluntary commitment to align their loan and investment portfolios in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Through the agreed measurement, publication and target setting to reduce the emissions associated with the loan and investment portfolios, the financial sector intends to make a contribution to climate protection and support the sustainable and future-oriented further development of the economy. This brings the German financial centre one step closer to the goal set by the German government at the beginning of 2019 of making Germany one of the leading locations for sustainable finance.
This initiative, which originated in the banking sector of the financial sector, aims to play an active role in shaping one of the most important societal tasks for future sustainability, namely the successful societal transformation to limit climate change. The signatories align their respective products and services as well as their commitments and initiatives accordingly in order to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees and to aim for the 1.5 degree target by financing the transformation towards a low-emission and climate-resilient economy and society. At the same time, active support for the transformation will strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of the companies financed and reduce sustainability and default risks for the banks.
Specifically, this means that by the end of 2022, each signatory will develop and implement mutually acceptable methodologies to measure the climate impact of its credit and investment portfolios and then manage them in line with national and international climate targets. The agreement applies only to those investment portfolios that are not the subject of fund or mandate business. The fund and mandate business will be taken into account gradually without any fixed timeframe.
The signatories want to support each other in collecting the necessary emissions data and developing methods for measurement and approaches for managing the banking business in line with the targets. In order to meet the shared responsibility and that of each actor, each signatory commits to report annually (e.g. within its existing reporting formats) on individual progress towards implementation.
The impetus for this voluntary commitment came from a group of financial institutions initiated by Triodos Bank and at the same time via a WWF bank working group. Since March, these two groups of banks have merged the previously parallel discussions into the present voluntary commitment. This is open to all financial actors for adoption and signature.
The wide range of initial signatories in terms of company size (from large banks to small specialist banks) and affiliation to different areas of the financial sector (e.g. state banks, commercial banks, sustainability banks, foreign banks and pension funds), shows that this challenge is widely accepted and that implementation by financial players is possible regardless of size or specific asset classes.
In the international context, the Climate Agreement (June 2019), the Collective Commitment to Climate Action (UN Climate Summit in September 2019) and, in the context of the 25th Climate Conference (December 2019), a voluntary commitment by the Spanish financial sector have already been signed. All of these agreements have comparable structures and target levels on which the German voluntary commitment now made builds. Comparability with the other international agreements enables international financial institutions in particular to develop uniform processes and standards and ensures that the greatest possible impact can be achieved efficiently and without redundancies.
The current overview of the signatories as well as the complete voluntary commitment can be found at:
www.klima-selbstverpflichtung-finanzsektor.de
Keywords:
Procurement, DE-News, Climate protection, Sustainable management, Transition Town, Environmental policy
In September, Germany's largest thermal solar plant officially went into operation in the Brandenburg city of Senftenberg. The plant was built by Stadtwerke Senftenberg on an area of around 2.2 hectares and is expected to produce around four million kilowatt hours of heat per year.
Due to its outstanding commitment to the expansion of renewable energies, the Agency for Renewable Energies awards the city of Senftenberg as Energy Municipality of the Month. "In order to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, the heating sector is of great importance. With the construction of the solar thermal plant, the city of Senftenberg presents itself as a pioneer in the municipal heat transition," says Nils Boenigk, Deputy Managing Director of the Agency for Renewable Energies.
In the city of 25,000 inhabitants, the new solar thermal plant and a natural gas heating plant generate heat that is supplied to over 10,000 households via the local district heating network. The plant consists of 1,680 tube collectors that generate heat during the average 1,700 hours of sunshine per year. In the summer months, it almost completely covers the base load. The demand in excess of this is generated by natural gas boilers. Together, the plants replace the former pulverised lignite boiler. "The new solar thermal plant brings us closer to our goal of covering more and more of the heating needs of the city of Senftenberg with renewable sources," explains Mayor Andreas Fredrich. "With the largest plant in Germany at present, we are pioneers in the application of this technology."
The project is a highlight among the local climate protection efforts resulting from the energy concept published in 2013. This concept examines and evaluates the opportunities and possibilities for the expansion of renewable energies and the economical use of energy. The city focuses primarily on the heating sector, as its heating needs account for the largest share of total energy consumption. The new thermal solar plant makes a major contribution to renewable heat generation here. In the electricity sector, where up to 90 per cent of demand was already generated from renewable sources in 2011, the city is even aiming to generate more than 100 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
"The city of Senftenberg is well positioned in the field of renewable energies," explains Mayor Andreas Fredrich. "With the help of the energy concept, municipal and regional stakeholders can more easily identify energy saving potential and plan and implement the expansion of renewable energies more effectively."
A detailed portrait of the city of Senftenberg can be found at http://www.kommunal-erneuerbar.de/de/energie-kommunen/energie-kommunen/senftenberg.html
Keywords:
Renewable, News Blog Brandenburg, Solar thermal
The "Alternative Economic Policy Working Group" has published its MEMORANDUM 2018 report.
Price of the "black zero": distribution deficits and gaps in supply
Germany, with its senseless ideology of austerity and cuts, has not yet arrived economically in the 21st century. The small-minded hucksterism in the ruling policy is also slowing down the recovery in the European Union and the Eurozone.
The Memorandum 2018 shows urgently needed alternatives to the economically narrow-minded "zero policy". In Germany, the focus must be on strengthening domestic demand and thus on higher incomes for dependent employees and more government spending. The state share is significantly too low. In Europe, it must be about cooperation instead of blind competition. Prof. Dr. Heinz-J. Bontrup explains: "Germany's current account surpluses have been and are being generated at the expense of dependent employees and are therefore counterproductive and dangerous. Germany's chronic current account surpluses are by no means a healthy indicator of competitiveness. Rather, they are the result of domestic economic imbalances. Permanently and senselessly, much more is produced in Germany than is consumed, while important domestic economic sectors such as infrastructure, care, education and the Affordable housing on the basis of public housing are criminally neglected.
Millions of precarious jobs have led to poverty wages and later to poverty in old age. Frustrated, many citizens are turning away from established politics. National ideas that are hyper-dangerous for democracy are becoming more and more popular. Prof. Dr. Mechthild Schrooten explains: "The demand for an unconditional basic income shows how many people feel that working life has no prospects. In fact, a basic income that is resistant to poverty is not an option in purely mathematical terms.
What is urgently needed is better participation in the labour market. "Contrary to the manipulated official statistics, mass unemployment with a growing number of precarious poverty work still characterises society," says Heinz-J. Bontrup. Reducing working hours with full wage and staff compensation is therefore urgently needed and would be easily financed against the background of an overall rich Germany. Last year alone, Germany produced over 2.3 trillion euros in distributable value added. The distribution issue is the core problem in Germany. "A lot of capital in the hands of a few also means that the financial markets no longer function; risks are again accumulating more intensely here," explains Mechthild Schrooten.
Against this background, the Alternative Economic Policy Working Group is focusing on strategies that put a definitive end to the redistribution from the bottom to the top. Economic growth must reach everyone. Wages must rise, working hours must be shortened and the welfare state must be expanded instead of dismantled. To finance this, taxes must rise sharply. In the past, the much-lamented national debt was mainly caused by taxes that were too low. Therefore, the top tax rate and corporate taxes must be increased. In addition, a one-time wealth tax must be levied and the immediate reintroduction of the wealth tax must be implemented. This can then be used to finance, in addition to additional national debt, a public investment programme of at least 120 billion euros. Last but not least, and once again, the Alternative Economic Policy Working Group calls for a democratisation of the economy. The 40 million dependent employees in Germany must finally have a say in the economy, on an equal footing with capital.
Website with pdf downloads:
www.alternative-wirtschaftspolitik.de/...memorandum_2018
taz article:
http://taz.de/Alternativer-Wirtschaftsbericht/!5497450/
Keywords:
Stakeholders, DE-News, Media, New books and studies, Housing policy, Economics
The Montag-Stiftung Urbane Räume (Bonn) describes properties that are developed by many for many and contribute to the common good as Immovielien. The foundation's website has now gone online, providing detailed documentation of model projects that can serve as inspiration: from the ExRotaprint in Berlin to the Elsebad Schwerte.
Link
www.netzwerk-immovielien.de
Keywords:
Blogs & Portals, DE-News, Immovielien, Media, Mix of uses, Participation, Social / Culture