Berlin/Cologne. The consequences of climate change have long been felt in German municipalities: more frequent heavy rainfall events, flooding, storms as well as heat waves and prolonged drought. Cities, municipalities and districts must adapt to the unavoidable consequences of climate change as quickly as possible and become more resilient. In July 2021, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia passed the first climate adaptation law in Germany. According to this law, municipalities in NRW are obliged, for example, to take the impacts of climate change into account in their planning and decisions. In order to support municipalities in the implementation, the "Kommunalberatung Klimafolgenanpassung NRW" (Municipal Advice on Climate Change Adaptation NRW), established at Difu, was commissioned by the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Environment to publish an orientation guide. The new "Climate Adaptation Check for Municipalities in NRW" supports municipalities in the implementation of the consideration requirement according to § 6 of the Climate Adaptation Act.
The guidance outlines the essential premises - responsibility, timeliness, comprehensibility - which must be adhered to, makes suggestions for the procedure and gives advice on implementation. As the core of the procedure, a climate adaptation check of draft resolutions - or ideally already for preliminary planning - is recommended, which is to be discussed and adapted locally in each case and, if necessary, combined in a suitable manner with other test procedures (such as sustainability or climate protection). The working aid is also intended to support climate resilient reconstruction in the areas damaged by the heavy rain and flood events of July 2021.
The development has been based on the experiences and assessments of municipalities in NRW and other federal states. It should and can therefore also be a helpful tool for other municipalities in Germany.
The online publication is available free of charge as a flipbook as well as an accessible version.
Background
The North Rhine-Westphalia Climate Adaptation Act (KlAnG) states in § 6 Consideration requirement:
(1) In their planning and decision-making, the public bodies shall take into account the purpose of this Act and the objectives set for its fulfilment in an interdisciplinary and integrated manner.
(2) Pursuant to section 13(3), first sentence, of the Federal Climate Protection Act of 12 December 2019 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 2513), when applying economic efficiency criteria in comparative considerations, the cost and
savings over the respective entire useful life of the investment or procurement. In accordance with sentence 2, the expected costs of the negative consequences of climate change shall also be taken into account in an appropriate manner.
Short info: German Institute of Urban Affairs
As the largest urban research institute in the German-speaking world, the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) is the research, training and information institution for cities, municipal associations and planning communities. Whether urban and regional development, municipal economy, urban planning, social issues, environment, transport, culture, law, administrative issues or municipal finance: Founded in 1973, the independent Berlin-based institute - with a further location in Cologne - deals with an extensive range of topics and, on a scientific level, deals in a practical way with all the tasks that municipalities have to deal with today and in the future. The Verein für Kommunalwissenschaften e.V. is the sole shareholder of the research institute, which is run as a non-profit limited company.
