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Hamburg is tightening its climate targets

Hamburg is significantly tightening its climate targets.

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Hamburg is tightening its climate targets

Hamburg is significantly tightening its climate targets. After the red-green state government had agreed a few months ago to reduce CO2 emissions by 70 percent by 2030 instead of 55 percent compared to 1990, this decision has now also been formally made in the Senate. The CO2 reduction by 70 percent is one of the cornerstones for the update of the climate plan that the Senate passed on Tuesday. The goal should also be included in the planned new climate protection law.

Environment Senator Jens Kerstan (Greens) presented the key points after the Senate session in the town hall. Among other things, they stipulate that Hamburg should become completely climate-neutral by 2045. To do this, CO2 emissions would have to be reduced by around 98 percent.

Hamburg's CO2 emissions were around 21 million tons in 1990 and are to be reduced to 6.1 million tons by 2030. Since CO2 emissions have only fallen by around 36 percent to 13.5 million tons by 2020, the new reduction target requires a further reduction of around seven million tons by 2030. After that it would go down to around 424,000 tons by 2045.

The goal is ambitious, but must be achieved, according to Kerstan. "And I say that not only as an environmental senator, but also as a senator responsible for flood protection." Stricter goals are a vital necessity for the city. Climate change is no longer change, but a climate crisis.

This is one of the reasons why work on updating the climate plan began earlier than originally planned. The last update - a kind of revision of the defined goals - was in 2019. The climate plan came into effect in 2015. In addition to fixed goals, this also provides for concrete measures. These are now to be developed in the coming months and set out exactly how Hamburg should put the key points adopted on Tuesday into practice.

The Senate has defined four sectors and stipulated how much CO2 should be saved in each of them. Kerstan explained that scientific help was obtained from the Prognos Institute and the Öko Institute. According to this, the private households sector, which also includes residential buildings, is to reduce emissions by a further almost 1.7 million tons of CO2 by 2030, the trade, trade and services sector by 1.7 million tons, and industry by 2.2 million tons tons and traffic by around 820,000 tons. Around 600,000 tons of CO2 savings are not directly assigned to any sector, but are to be provided as a joint effort by 2030.

So far, 40 so-called leverage measures have been presented in the cornerstones. In the area of ​​private households, for example, there are plans to connect more households to the district heating supply, which in Hamburg is to be increasingly fed from renewable energies. According to calculations by experts, this would save around 73,000 tons of CO2 by 2030. By 2045 it would be 242,000 tons.

The publication of the Senate's new key points was met with great disappointment by associations and politicians. "It's not enough for politicians to spontaneously tighten their targets, because that doesn't help climate protection," said Matthias Boxberger, chairman of the Hamburg Industry Association. "Where are the city's new additional investments to support the industry in achieving the ambitious targets?" he asked.

Hamburg's industrial companies are ready to make their contribution to achieving the climate goals - and have already achieved a lot in recent years. What is important now, however, are "realistic transition paths, pragmatic approvals and sufficient protection against relocating production abroad due to increasing location costs due to more climate protection." The plan does not give any answers to this.

The BUND was also not very convinced of the plans presented on Tuesday. The Senate is in an imbalance “if you compare the announced 70 percent reduction in carbon dioxide by 2030 with the measures presented,” said Lucas Schäfer, state director of BUND Hamburg. Schäfer sees a problem with the SPD.

"The commission on climate issues, personally led by Mayor Peter Tschentscher, sets ambitious goals and at the same time irons out all ambitious proposals for measures, including those from the environmental authority," criticized the environmentalist. Where is the photovoltaic obligation for conversions and new buildings or a "real CO2 shadow price in all economic sectors". The Senate dares “practically hardly anything when updating the climate plan.”

The cornerstones would correspond more to the principle of hope than clear action, complained the environmental policy spokesman for the left, Stephan Jersch. FDP politician Anna von Treuenfels-Frowein spoke of "climate policy as a castle in the air". The Senate is still only "master of announcements", criticized the environmental expert of the CDU Sandro Kappe. He expects a climate plan "that shows when and by whom how much should be saved and what happens if the respective players do not achieve the goals." In addition, one needs "finally a plan B if the assumptions of the Senate do not work out."

Meanwhile, Environment Senator Kerstan tried to curb the expectations of the cornerstones. The process is not yet in the process of naming concrete measures. However, these would now be developed together with stakeholders, the public and with the participation of the climate advisory board. He did not accept criticism that the measures in the finished climate plan could be too soft. No other federal state and not even the federal government would specify goals and measures as clear as Hamburg.

In addition, the ongoing talks are also about whether interim targets should be formulated by 2030 - and whether there may be sanctions if the authorities responsible for the various sectors fail to meet the targets of the climate plan.

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