5:15 min, published 7/21/2017
Project Info: http://sdg21.eu/db/wohnen-am-dantebad
The craftsmen and building experts of the Modernisierungsoffensive Mittelfranken and the initiative "EnergiePlusHaus" have produced this VideoClip about the topic EnergiePlusHaus.
Construction is like an orchestra: everyone is responsible for their instrument, for their tool. Only the perfect interplay creates a strong melody or a future-oriented building. The message of the song: "I've got cool modules and a wall of glass, I tap into the sun, I never need gas again.
Keywords:
DE-News, Renewable, Movies, Movies < 4 Min, PlusEnergy house/settlement
On 4 July 2019, the Bonn City Council declared a climate emergency for Bonn. In doing so, Bonn joins other municipalities in affirming that climate protection must have the highest priority in municipal action. At the same time, the declaration of the climate emergency sends a strong signal to national and international legislation.
With this decision, the City Council is following two citizens' petitions signed by the Fridays for Future, Parents for Future and Klimawache Bonn initiatives, among others.
Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan explains: "I think anything that is suitable for drawing the public's attention to the issue of climate protection is helpful. As a city, we are already very active in initiating and implementing what is possible here on the ground. We are also active internationally in various climate protection alliances. As President of the global city network for sustainability ICLEI, I am constantly campaigning for the issue to be pursued with vigour at local level. The motto continues to be: think globally, act locally. The declaration of a climate emergency for Bonn is a symbolic act in this sense, which must now be followed by action. The administration will submit concrete proposals in this regard."
With the adoption of the Bonn Energy Transition and Climate Protection Masterplan, the Integrated Climate Protection and Adaptation Concept and numerous subsequent measures, the city of Bonn has contributed to the reduction of greenhouse gases. Measured against the reference year 1990, per capita CO2 emissions in Bonn fell by 22 per cent by 2014. In order to increase this contribution, further efforts must be made in the future.
However, the possibilities for exerting influence at municipal level are largely dependent on the framework conditions at national and international level. A national climate protection law with specific requirements or comprehensive information campaigns - as called for in the application - could be instruments for this.
Source: City of Bonn press release, 05/07/2019
Keywords:
Stakeholders, Bonn, DE-News, Climate protection, Communities, News Blog NRW, Environmental policy, Ecology
The Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Construction today announced the Federal Urban Greening Award 2022. This year, the focus is on the topic of "Climate adaptation and quality of life".
Federal Minister Klara Geywitz: "Climate change is a stress test for our cities. We need more trees for a better urban climate, we need soils that can absorb heavy rainfall, we need less sealed land also for more biodiversity and against the heating up of residential neighbourhoods. With the Federal Urban Greening Award 2022, we are honouring the pioneering work that is already shaping the necessary transformation of cities today."
The award recognises best practice examples that show how municipalities can use their urban green spaces to positively influence the urban climate and reduce the negative effects of extreme weather conditions. The award also recognises innovative concepts for climate-adapted and vital urban green spaces that have already been tried and tested. The award is looking for open spaces that can be used by the public and that also meet the other requirements for the use of open spaces in cities and municipalities, including as spaces for recreation and social cohesion and as elements of an attractive network of cycle paths and footpaths. Cities and municipalities in Germany can now apply with their projects. Planning offices, citizens, universities, research institutions, initiatives or associations can participate in cooperation with their municipalities.
Subject to the funds available in the 2022 federal budget, the federal prize is endowed with prize money totalling up to 100,000 euros. In addition to exemplary implemented projects, the courage to experiment with promising new approaches is also rewarded.
An independent jury will decide in June 2022 which projects will be awarded prizes and recognition. It is composed of experts from the fields of garden and landscape architecture, climate adaptation, urban development and urban planning, representatives of the municipal umbrella organisations and from the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs. The award ceremony is scheduled to take place in Berlin in September 2022.
The Federal Urban Greening Award is an important building block in the implementation of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs' White Paper on Urban Greening. It is supported by the German Association of Cities and Towns, the German Association of Towns and Municipalities and the German Association of Districts. The Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) implements the Federal Urban Greening Award and provides technical support.
Further information under www.bundespreis-stadtgruen.de
Keywords:
Greening / climate adaptation, DE-News, Communities, Near-natural open space design, Permaculture, Quarters, Settlements, City, Water design, Contests & Prizes, Wildlife/animal friendly construction
The Federal Cabinet today approved an update of the Resource Efficiency Programme. Germanwatch welcomes in principle the government's plan for resource efficiency, but says that the original draft of the Environment Ministry has been weakened considerably, especially with regard to human rights issues. "In many places we now only find lip service instead of a binding framework," regrets Cornelia Heydenreich, Team Leader Corporate Responsibility at Germanwatch. She emphasises: "Resource protection must go hand in hand with human rights protection".
In the September draft it had still said: "In all funding instruments of the raw materials strategy, state funding will be linked to binding compliance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights [...]". Heydenreich: "That is the level of ambition we would have needed." Now it just says that eligibility for funding will be "assessed" in terms of human rights. The Resource Efficiency Programme merely refers to the parallel process of drafting a "National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights", which is to be brought to the Federal Cabinet in May. "Now it is up to the federal government to present such an ambitious National Action Plan in May, as promised. This must include, in particular, a law on human rights due diligence", demands Heydenreich.
Hardly any effective measures to prolong the use of products
Even in the measures to promote longer use of products, the federal government has taken promising approaches such as the creation of the EU legal prerequisite for a VAT concession in favour of resource-saving goods and services (e.g. repairs) out of its plan again. "The federal government's measures are too timid to really push for longer use of appliances," Heydenreich criticises.
On the other hand, it is to be welcomed that the German government is clearly committed to a demanding implementation of the EU regulation on conflict minerals. Heydenreich: "We call on the German government to use all possibilities to create a workable basis for this at EU level in the coming weeks. It must not be left to the companies to decide whether or not they finance bloody conflicts in the mining regions." Since the beginning of February, the EU Commission, the EU Parliament and the EU states have been negotiating a regulation on conflict minerals.
The extractive sector repeatedly causes particularly extensive human rights violations such as forced relocations, violent repression or even labour rights violations, including accidental deaths. According to a study commissioned by the former UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, John Ruggie, most of the business-related human rights allegations (28 per cent) concerned the extraction of raw materials.
Source: Communication from Germanwatch, 02.03.2016
https://germanwatch.org/de/11901
Keywords:
DE-News, Resource efficiency, Environmental policy
