Almost all German districts and urban districts are expecting more extreme weather events in the coming years – and high levels of damage. An exclusive survey by BR, NDR, WDR and CORRECTIVE.
Heat, drought, lack of water, heavy rain, floods – 96 percent of German rural districts and urban districts expect more extreme weather events by 2050. This is the result of a survey of all 400 circles that journalists from WDR Quarks, NDR Data, BR Data and CORRECTIV have carried out. 82 percent of all districts took part in the detailed survey.
86 percent of those who answered expect increasing financial burdens, especially from heavy rain and heat waves. Adaptation to the consequences of climate change is becoming increasingly important in addition to climate protection: extreme weather events such as drought, heat and heavy rain are becoming more frequent due to climate change and are already causing immense damage.
Regional differences in preparation
The districts and cities prepare themselves differently for the climatic development, because the risks depend on the local conditions: drought is an issue almost everywhere, while districts and cities in Brandenburg and Saxony are increasingly preparing for water shortages. Increased flood protection is mentioned above all in Saxony, but also in Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. However, districts do not always have an overview of the measures that already exist in their communities.
Funding for measures not secured
Financially, the districts and cities see themselves differently well positioned: around half state that they will probably not be able to finance the necessary measures in the coming years. Another third assumes that the funding will only suffice for some of the measures.
Really implementing the planned measures is ultimately in everyone’s interest, emphasizes Christoph Schulte from the Federal Environment Agency. He heads the Water and Soil department and warns against forgoing measures to adapt to climate change for reasons of cost, for example against drought: “It’s much more important what it costs us if we don’t implement them, if we don’t act. We have to see that the costs of drought and crop losses are immense.”
Climate adaptation concerns everyone
In most rural districts and cities, climate adaptation is a cross-cutting task: three quarters of the responding districts do not have their own budget for it. Measures such as greening or sponge town conversion must then be paid for as part of the normal budget allocation if they are not paid for from funding pots. But that’s possible, says Anja Bierwirth, who researches urban change at the Wuppertal Institute: “I can tear up a street and lay a supply line. But if I close it, I can design the surface differently.”
Few counties have one customization concept
Only a minority of rural districts and urban districts have an explicit adaptation concept for the consequences of climate change. Only about a quarter of the districts stated that they had such a concept – i.e. a central document in which climate risks and adaptation strategies are recorded. Another 22 percent have a concept in the works.
“I am shocked by the result that relatively many districts and urban districts have no concept,” says Bierwirth. “Taking measures to adapt to climate change also means long-term urban restructuring. The earlier I start doing this, the more chance I have of making my city significantly more resilient in the next ten to 15 years than it is now,” she says.
Climate Adaptation Act should come
The federal cabinet approved a draft climate adaptation law on Thursday. After the summer break, the draft will then be discussed in the Bundestag. A spokesman for the Ministry of the Environment announced that the aim of the law was to ensure that climate adaptation concepts were drawn up across the board for Germany.
Gerd Landsberg, the general manager of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB), considers the law to be “correct in principle”. There are already funding programs for adaptation to climate change. However: “All of this is of course not sufficiently financed,” says Landsberg. He proposes changing the Basic Law and including climate adaptation as a joint task of the federal and state governments. Then the federal government could support the municipalities directly.
For him, the survey by BR, NDR, WDR and CORRECTIV “reflects exactly what the cities, municipalities and districts are concerned about locally”. He refers to the coalition agreement: “It says there that we are striving to establish joint funding from the federal and state governments for climate protection and climate adaptation and will provide the necessary financial resources.” We are now waiting for this order to be fulfilled.
To the survey
The survey was created by journalists from NDR Data, WDR Quarks, BR Data and CORRECTIV, with expert advice from the TU Dortmund. In the period from April to May 2023, all 400 rural districts, urban districts and regional associations were inquired about. The research has resulted in the most comprehensive publicly available data set on climate change adaptation in the districts and urban districts in Germany. The complete data set is available here to download ready.
Project team:
Jana Heck, Uli Hendrix, Nandor Hulverscheidt, Lara Schwenner (WDR Quarks/WDR Data), Julia Barthel, Anna Behrend, Michael Hörz, Isabel Lerch Collaboration: Serafin Arhelger, Ciara Cesaro-Tadic (NDR Data), Constanze Bayer, Johanna Bernklau , Robert Schöffel (BR Data), Lilly Brosowsky, Max Donheiser, Katarina Huth, Annika Joeres, Paulina Thom (CORRECTIV)