Federal Minister for Building Geywitz signs administrative agreement on climate-friendly social housing construction

Published 26 March 2022

Administrative agreement regulates the use of federal financial assistance in the amount of 1 billion euros

It was only on 16 March 2022 that the Federal Cabinet approved the 2022 budget, the key figures until 2026 and thus also the record sum of 14.5 billion euros for social housing construction until 2026. On 18 March 2022, Federal Minister for Building Klara Geywitz signed the administrative agreement on climate-friendly social housing in the programme year 2022. This must now be countersigned by the Länder.

Federal Minister for Building Geywitz: "The creation of affordable housing is a task for the entire state. That is why the federal government supports the Länder with substantial funds." For their part, the Länder undertake to provide Land funds amounting to at least 30 per cent of the federal funds used.
Federal Minister for Building Geywitz emphasises: "With the signing of the administrative agreement on climate-friendly social housing, the necessary foundations for the promotion of social housing in the 2022 programme year are now fully in place. Immediately after the entry into force of the 2022 federal budget, the Länder can dispose of the funds in the amount of 2 billion euros and issue approvals by the end of next year."

The administrative agreement that has now been signed regulates the use of federal financial assistance amounting to 1 billion euros, which the federal government grants to the Länder in implementation of the 2022 Emergency Climate Protection Programme adopted on 23 June 2021 for the energy-efficient construction of new buildings and the energy-efficient refurbishment of social housing. This means that the efficiency house standard 55 must be complied with for new construction and the efficiency house standard 85 for modernisations.

The administrative agreement supplements the administrative agreement on classic social housing already signed by Construction Minister Geywitz in December 2022. Here, in contrast to climate-friendly social housing, no energy requirements are imposed that go beyond the regulatory law. Federal funding of 1 billion euros is also available for classic social housing in the 2022 programme year.

For the programme year 2023, 2.5 billion euros are earmarked for social housing in the Federal Government's decision on the benchmark. The funds will increase to 3 billion euros in the programme year 2024. For the programme years 2025 and 2026, 3.5 billion euros are earmarked in each case.

Keywords: DE-News, Funding, Housing policy

Published 28 April 2018

Cities play 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 24 April 2018

Alternative Economic Report 2018

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

Published 22 February 2023

Meeting the housing shortage ecologically - renovation of existing buildings is the key to more affordable housing and climate protection

The housing shortage is an immense social problem in many large cities and conurbations. At the same time, the building sector has been failing to meet its environmental and climate targets for years. In a recent position paper, the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and the Commission for Sustainable Building at the UBA (KNBau) have examined how more affordable housing can be created without unnecessarily harming the environment and health. According to this paper, the most important factor for more environmental protection in housing construction is that the existing building stock is preserved wherever possible or is sensibly converted and repurposed. This is the easiest way to avoid climate emissions and unnecessarily high consumption of raw materials. Today, UBA President Prof. Dr. Dirk Messner presented KNBau's proposals to Federal Minister of Building Klara Geywitz and Federal Minister of the Environment Steffi Lemke in Berlin.

Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke: "Water scarcity and heat as a result of the climate crisis are putting our cities and their inhabitants under stress. What we need are climate-resilient cities with a cleverly planned blue and green infrastructure of water and urban greenery for nature and human recreation. When it comes to much-needed housing, we can at the same time protect the environment andClimateprotect: In view of the enormous demand for resources in the building sector, we must think housing creation, resource conservation and climate adaptation together. If new housing is created primarily in inner cities and on brownfield sites, and existing buildings are renovated and converted, this saves energy, waste and greenhouse gases and reduces land consumption."

Klara Geywitz, Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Building: "Building andClimate protectionmust always be thought of together and socially. To forego climate standards today when building - whether it is a conversion, an extension or a new building - is already unprofitable in the short term and will harm future generations. We need a new orientation. To achieve this, we must move away from focusing on thePrimary energy consumptiontowards a life cycle assessment of new and existing buildings that takes into account the entire greenhouse gas balance. We are already implementing this with the QNG seal. With the upcoming municipal heat planning as an important component of the heat transition and the upcoming major amendment to the Building Code, which will take up many of the demands from this study, we are planning further necessary steps on the way to the triad 'Building - Climate Protection - Social'."

⁠UBA-President Prof. Dr. Dirk Messner: "In addition to the urgently needed new construction, we must focus more on the conversion and reuse of existing buildings. Otherwise we will miss our climate and resource protection targets in the building sector. The socio-ecological transformation of our cities needs a paradigm shift. New housing in existing buildings saves raw materials and protects the open landscape from further urban sprawl. We also need to recycle and loop much more building materials."

Dr Matthias Lerm, Head of the Magdeburg Urban Planning Office and, together with Prof. Christa Reicher, Head of KNBau: "We also advocate establishing the new guiding principle of triple inner development in urban planning. This means that the urban planning of the future must not play off the three pillars of compact building, healthy urban greenery and sustainable mobility against each other: If today's car park courtyards become house gardens again, this must be accompanied by suitable mobility alternatives, i.e. expanded public transport and sharing services as well as additional bicycle lanes and pedestrian areas. And if, instead of small-scale and loosened up, there is more compact and space-saving building in the future, then intensively usable playgrounds and climate-effective green corridors must also be included in the projects".

In order to reduce climate emissions and the consumption of raw materials in construction, KNBau recommends adapting the model building code and various state building codes. In future, they should be oriented towards ambitious sustainability criteria and, for example, provide for the conservation of resources and the priority of existing buildings over new ones. Promoting framework conditions for the use of particularly ecological building materials should also be anchored there, as well as allowing reduced minimum distances for photovoltaic systems on roofs. In addition, legal foundations in state building codes should be expanded so that standards for precautionary measures against hazards to health and the environment can be prescribed.

Source: UBA PM of 20.02.2023
www.umweltbundesamt.de/...dem-wohnraummangel-oekologisch-begegnen

Keywords:
Stock, DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, Recycling, Resource efficiency, Environmental policy, Housing, Housing policy