The winners of the 5th Klaus Novy Prize have been announced

Published 9 August 2017

For the fifth time and in keeping with its 120th birthday, Spar- und Bauverein Solingen eG awarded the nationwide Klaus Novy Prize for innovations in cooperative building and living in July. This prize was established by SBV eG as a stimulus for cooperative ideas on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. This year, the prize was awarded to projects that "socially and innovatively" strengthen membership in a cooperative and coexistence in neighborhoods.

Impressed by the award's namesake: SPD State Chairman NRW Michael Groschek in front of the picture of the cooperative theorist Professor Klaus Novy. Photo: SBV/Kastner

"From children's cooperatives to housing projects for refugees: housing cooperatives today are more colourful, dynamic, open-minded and sustainable - innovative and social." SBV Board Chairman Ulrich Bimberg was enthusiastic about the "exciting exchange of knowledge" that took place in the cooperative's own historic washhouse Weegerhof.

Michael Groschek, Chairman of the NRW SPD and former Minister of State, was impressed by the award's namesake: Professor Klaus Novy had imagined the ideal society as a cooperative. The housing market in Germany is a long way from that, he said. "Unless you are lucky enough to live in Solingen, where every tenth apartment is cooperative." During his visit, Michael Groschek paid tribute to the innovative cooperative projects - as former NRW Minister for Construction, he has a special connection to the subject.

Eight cooperatives from all over Germany presented their ideas to the expert audience after a pre-selection from 31 submitted entries. In the end, the new Zurich housing cooperative "Mehr als Wohnen eG" prevailed in the democratic selection process. Their forward-looking and sustainable project was convincing from a social, technical and ecological point of view and received 4000 euros. Second place and 2000 euros went to "Inklusiv Wohnen Köln e.V.", the house project of an association of parents with disabled children. "Bellevue di Monaco eG" from Munich, a housing and social cooperative for refugees, was pleased with third place and 1000 euros. There were no losers in the innovative performances, but a win for all. SBV Chairman Ulrich Bimberg: "Every participating cooperative has something very special." For co-organiser Arno Mersmann, what is typical of a cooperative is: "What one person can't achieve alone, one can achieve together.

The winners of the Klaus Novy Award 2017 with SBV Supervisory Board Chairman Hans-Werner Bertl and SBV Board Chairman Ulrich Bimberg (r.). From left to right: Antje Günther (3rd prize Munich), Claudia Thiesen (1st prize Zurich), Christiane Strohecker, Michaela Mucke, Pascal Schumacher (2nd prize Cologne), Beatrix Novy, Photo: SBV/Kastner

Laureate 2017

Prize "Mehr als Wohnen eG", Zurich
new cooperative, supported by 55 Zurich housing cooperatives, is testing the future of living with 380 residential units. Their project was convincing in social, technical and ecological terms.
www.mehralswohnen.ch
Prize "Inklusiv Wohnen Köln e.V." (Inclusive Living Cologne)
House project of an association of parents with disabled children. The building owner is the Cologne municipal housing company GAG, and the association has the right of use and occupancy.
www.inklusiv-wohnen-koeln.de
Prize "Bellevue di Monaco eG", Munich
Housing and social cooperative for refugees, who are prepared for an independent life through a concept of care and co-responsibility.
www.bellevuedimonaco.de

Klaus Novy Prize
The prize is dedicated to Prof. Klaus Novy (Professor of Building Economics, born 1944 in Vienna; died 1991 in Seattle, USA), who championed the renewal of cooperative housing culture. To mark its centenary in 1997, Spar- und Bauverein Solingen eG launched the nationwide competition. Every five years, current innovations are honored - also as an inspiration for others. Competition theme 2017: "Innovative social cooperative". Contact: Arno Mersmann, telephone 0202/563 20 58, e-mail: amersmann@hotmail.com

Savings and building society Solingen eG
With over 13,600 members, SBV eG is the largest housing cooperative in the Rhineland and one of the largest in Germany; almost one in eight people in Solingen live in an SBV eG house. The claim for 120 years: to offer modern and safe living space at fair conditions to all classes of the population. Contact: SBV Board of Directors, Ulrich Bimberg, Tel. (0212) 20 66-201, e-mail: bimberg@sbv-solingen.de

Keywords: Stakeholders, Cohousing, News Blog Bavaria, News Blog NRW, Contests & Prizes, Housing policy, Housing projects

Published 7 January 2019

KIWUH - Competence and Information Centre Forest and Wood starts its work

The nationwide Forest and Wood Competence and Information Centre started its work on 1 January 2019.

At the beginning of the year, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) gave the go-ahead for the Competence and Information Centre Forest and Wood (KIWUH) under the umbrella of the Agency of Renewable Resources (Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V.). (FNR).

"With the Competence and Information Centre, we are bundling important tasks and competences in the field of forests and wood at one location. At the same time, we are creating further highly qualified jobs in rural areas in the new federal states" explains the Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Julia Klöckner, on the occasion of the opening of the KIWUH.

On behalf of the BMEL, the Competence Centre will support the FNR as project management agency for the funding programme Renewable Resources. In addition, the KIWUH is responsible for technical and consumer information on the topics of forests, sustainable forestry and wood use and their contribution to climate protection.

A second important funding pillar, which will be newly established in the KIWUH, is the project sponsorship of the FNR for the Forest Climate Fund, which is jointly managed by the BMEL and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). This fund, established in 2013, is dedicated to the specific promotion of measures to adapt forests to climate change and to maintain and expand CO₂-reduction potential of forests and wood.

The Competence and Information Centre, with a total of 41 employees, is a department within the FNR based in Gülzow-Prüzen in Mecklenburg. The head of the department is Marcus Kühling, a graduate forest scientist.

"The World Climate Conference in December 2018 has once again brought home to us the urgent need for action to preserve forest ecosystems and for a sustainable forestry and timber industry for the benefit of climate and species protection," says Marcus Kühling. "The forestry and timber sector is one of the key industries on the way to an economically, ecologically and socially sustainable society. Stable and naturally managed forests are not only an indispensable supplier of raw materials with a view to conserving and replacing finite resources. They are habitats for many protected animal and plant species and the most important recreational space for people."

Background:

With the Competence and Information Centre for Forests and Wood (KIWUH), the Federal Government is responding to the growing public need for information on issues of sustainable forest management and intelligent wood use identified in the Forest Strategy 2020 and the Climate Protection Plan 2050.

With the transfer of the project sponsorship for the "Forest Climate Fund" to the FNR, the KIWUH takes over a total of over 150 ongoing research projects with a funding volume of around 50 million euros.
(Further information under www.waldklimafonds.de)

From the Promotion programme "Renewable raw materials currently supports more than 100 projects aimed at strengthening sustainable forestry and safeguarding forest functions, as well as more than 70 other projects on sustainable timber management, with a total funding volume of around 25 million euros. Research fields here include, for example, the breeding of forest seeds that meet new climate and usage requirements, the development of strategies for optimising "near-natural silviculture" for the supply of raw materials, the development of environmentally friendly insulation and building materials based on the renewable raw material wood, or the social dialogue on the bioeconomy and sustainability.

The Agency for Renewable Resources has been active for 25 years as the BMEL's project management agency for the "Renewable Resources" funding programme. The FNR has been supporting research topics in the fields of sustainable forestry and innovative wood use since its foundation. Since 2016, the FNR has also been entrusted with the operational tasks of implementing the German Forest Days and the Charter for Wood 2.0. It also provides specialist information and public relations work.

Source: PM of the FNR from 3.1.2019

Keywords:
Stakeholders, Wood construction, Climate protection, News Blog Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Published 3. October 2017

Environmental Council calls for complete phase-out of coal-fired power generation within 20 years

In its 2.10.2017 published opinion the German Advisory Council on the Environment calls on the incoming German government to initiate the coal phase-out without delay. The upcoming legislative period offers the last chance to set the course for an appropriate implementation of the Paris climate goals in Germany.

"Germany must reduce power generation from coal as quickly as possible and end it in the medium term, otherwise the climate targets in Germany cannot be achieved. The structurally compatible coal phase-out should therefore be initiated immediately. The last power plant must be taken off the grid in 20 years at the latest," explains Prof. Claudia Kemfert.

The basis of the coal phase-out should be a budget of the total amount of greenhouse gases that may still be emitted by coal-fired power plants until their final shutdown. This amount should be fixed by law. "From a scientific point of view, the remaining emissions budget for coal-fired power generation in Germany should be 2,000 megatonnes of CO₂ Prof. Wolfgang Lucht specifies.

In its report, the SRU proposes a phase-out in three phases: The most emission-intensive power plants should be taken off the grid by 2020. On this basis, more modern plants could continue to operate at reduced capacity until about 2030 to ensure security of supply and to preserve jobs. In the 2030s, these power plants should then also be decommissioned. The federal government must now define the framework for this.

Climate protection and the shaping of structural change must go hand in hand. A long-term and structured phase-out path offers those affected planning security and can ensure that the burden is shared as fairly as possible. The phase-out path and its structural policy support should therefore be discussed in a commission together with the affected regions, companies, trade unions and environmental protection associations.

The German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU) has been advising the German government on environmental policy issues for almost 45 years. The Council's composition of seven professors from different disciplines ensures a scientifically independent and comprehensive assessment, both from a scientific and technical perspective as well as from an economic, legal and health science perspective.

The Council currently consists of the following members:

Prof. Dr Claudia Hornberg (Chair), Bielefeld University

Prof. Dr Manfred Niekisch (Vice-Chairman), Goethe University and Frankfurt Zoological Garden

Prof. Dr. Christian Calliess, Free University of Berlin

Prof. Dr. Claudia Kemfert, Hertie School of Governance and German Institute for Economic Research

Prof. Dr Wolfgang Lucht, Humboldt University Berlin and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Lamia Messari-Becker, University of Siegen

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Vera Susanne Rotter, Technical University Berlin

German Advisory Council on the Environment, Berlin
www.umweltrat.de

Keywords:
Stakeholders, DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, New books and studies, SDG 2030, Environmental policy, Ecology

Published 11 November 2020

Greenpeace study: Reduction of climate-damaging subsidies can relieve federal budget by 46 billion euros annually

*Neurath coal-fired power plant near Grevenbroich in the Rhenish lignite mining region. Steam rises from cooling towers. © Photo: Bernd Lauter / Greenpeace*

Hamburg, 11. 11. 2020 - By phasing out ten particularly climate-damaging subsidies in the energy, transport and agricultural sectors, Germany can generate up to 46 billion euros in revenue annually.

This is the result of a new study by the "Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft" on behalf of Greenpeace. (Study "Ten climate-damaging subsidies in focus" online at: https://bit.ly/2JVu3tq).

A total of almost 100 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents would be saved annually compared to today if the subsidies under consideration were reformed. This is roughly equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from passenger car traffic in Germany. The study appears in the run-up to the publication of the tax estimate by Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) announced for Thursday. It shows how the federal government can simultaneously reduce the immense new debt caused by the Corona crisis and make progress on climate protection. "Now the German government can kill two birds with one stone by reducing climate-damaging subsidies: lower CO2 emissions and relieve the budget by billions. In doing so, it eliminates significant disadvantages for climate-friendly industries and can accelerate the shift towards a sustainable, ecologically oriented economy," says Bastian Neuwirth, climate expert at Greenpeace.

A ranking examines the phase-out of ten particularly climate-damaging subsidies in Germany and sorts them according to where the most tax money and CO2 can be saved. The abolition of the tax exemption for kerosene, the withdrawal of tax concessions for electricity generation and the reduction of electricity price exemptions for industry prove to be particularly effective for climate protection and budget restructuring. In arithmetical terms, the German government could save around 73 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents and 18 billion euros of taxpayers' money each year with these measures alone. In the middle of the ranking are the VAT exemption for international flights, the distance allowance, the diesel privilege and the reduced VAT rate on animal products. "Continuing to hand out extra money for climate-damaging economic activity is completely out of step with the times. Each of these climate-damaging subsidies must be overturned as soon as possible," says Neuwirth.

Reduction of subsidies makes German 2030 climate target achievable

The gradual dismantling of the ten subsidies that are particularly harmful to the climate can shorten the Federal Government's delay in achieving its own climate targets: according to the Federal Environment Agency, Germany will emit around 71 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents too much in 2030 with the measures it has adopted so far to achieve the 2030 climate target. A rapid reduction in subsidies can therefore help to remedy this situation. At the international level, Germany and the G7 countries already committed in 2016 to reducing climate-damaging subsidies by 2025.

Study: Focus on ten climate-damaging subsidies

How cutting subsidies will advance climate protection and ease the burden on the federal budget. A ranking

Source: Greenpeace-PM from 11. 11. 2020

Keywords:
DE-News, Climate protection, Mobility, Sustainable management, New books and studies, Resource efficiency, Environmental policy