Environment
Lemke: Extreme weather forces people to adapt to the climate crisis
“Weather extremes force us to take precautions and adapt to the consequences of the climate crisis,” says Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens). photo
©Oliver Berg/dpa
Heat, heavy rain, floods: extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to climate change, warns the Minister for the Environment. In order to better protect citizens, cities have to be rebuilt – and that will be expensive.
Around two years after the deadly flood disaster in western Germany, the federal government wants to better adapt the municipalities to the consequences of climate change. “Heat and drought, heavy rain and floods – Extreme weather will become more frequent in the future and will force us to take precautions and adapt to the consequences of the climate crisis,” said Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) of the German Press Agency. “With risk prevention that looks further into the future than before, we can not only damage mitigate, but also significantly improve the quality of life in the city and in the countryside.”
Today the cabinet therefore wants to deal with a draft by Lemke on so-called climate adaptation. In climate adaptation, precautions are taken against the consequences of climate change that can no longer be avoided. According to the draft, the federal government is to present an adaptation strategy with measurable goals by the end of 2024.
Accordingly, in the future, when planning and making decisions, it should always be looked at which effects of climate change must be taken into account. For example, before the construction of buildings, it should be checked whether there is a risk of flooding.
Disaster in the Ahr Valley a foretaste
At least 136 people died in the flood disaster of July 14/15, 2021 in Rhineland-Palatinate alone. In neighboring North Rhine-Westphalia, 49 people died. According to the city, around 90 percent of all people in Dernau, Rhineland-Palatinate, were affected by the flood. Shortly after the flood, 570 of 650 households were unable to use their homes. Experts assume that extreme weather events will also increase in Germany as a result of climate change.
According to Lemke, the planned law now creates a binding framework for the federal, state and local governments for the first time. “With local risk analyzes and adaptation plans, we are preparing for climate change and enabling better protection of the population, for example through strategies for cooler cities and more shade.”
The Association of German Cities supports the Environment Minister’s plan. “It’s good that the federal government is putting the creation of climate adaptation concepts at the center of its policy with the draft law,” said Chief Executive Helmut Dedy of the dpa. “Many cities already have such plans, but we need them nationwide.”
Dedy: More staff needed in cities
The city day referred to the need for significant investments – and called for more support. “The federal and state governments estimate the financial requirements for climate adaptation measures in the federal states and municipalities up to 2030 at a total of 55 billion euros and the personnel requirements for implementation at 16,200 jobs,” said Dedy. “With the existing funding programs, it is impossible to implement these necessary measures across the board. The federal and state governments must therefore take on more responsibility.”
According to research by NDR, BR, WDR and Correctiv, many regions already see a problem in financing adaptation measures. According to the report, a good half of the counties and independent cities that took part in the survey stated that the necessary measures could probably not be financed in the coming years. Another third assumes that the funding will only suffice for some of the measures. According to the survey, only a minority of rural districts and urban districts have an explicit adaptation concept for the consequences of climate change.
So far no reliable financing
According to the media, a total of 329 administrations, i.e. around 82 percent of all rural districts and urban districts in Germany, took part in the survey. 96 percent of them assume that they will be more severely affected by extreme weather events such as heat, drought, water shortages, heavy rain or floods by 2050. As a result, 86 percent expected increasing financial burdens – above all due to heavy rain and heat waves.
The Federal Environment Ministry confirms to the dpa that the municipalities have so far lacked reliable financing for their climate adaptation. “The responsibility for this financing lies initially with the municipalities and federal states. At the same time, the task is too extensive and challenging to be managed without the help of the federal government – both in terms of financing and the supra-regional coordination of measures.” , said a spokesman. How sustainable joint financing of climate adaptation by the federal and state governments can succeed is being discussed with the environment ministers’ conference.