This was made clear by the President of the Association of German Cities, Mayor Burkhard Jung from Leipzig, following a meeting of the executive committee of the umbrella organization of local authorities in Salzgitter.
"It is good and necessary that the federal government is giving climate protection a higher priority. The introduction of CO2 pricing, funding programs for building refurbishment and individual measures in the transport sector are a step in the right direction," said the President of the Association of Cities and Towns: "However, some things are being tackled too timidly and slowly. As cities, we do not yet consider the proposals for transport in particular to be sufficient to achieve the climate targets."
From the cities' point of view, the success of the federal government's climate resolutions will largely depend on how well the transport transition to sustainable mobility succeeds. Last year, CO2 emissions from road traffic were still at the same level as in 1990, as previous improvements in exhaust emissions are being eaten up by more and heavier vehicles and the significant increase in traffic.
"Promoting alternative drive systems, making rail travel more attractive and changing the vehicle tax are the right things to do, but will probably not be enough to achieve the CO2 reduction targets for the transport sector," says Jung: "We need to significantly reduce CO2 emissions in the transport sector. It must therefore become even more attractive for people to switch from cars to low-emission means of transport. The cities need support from the federal and state governments in order to be able to make the necessary investments for attractive ÖPNV with more modern buses and trains quickly. We therefore expressly welcome the fact that the federal government intends to increase funding for municipal transport infrastructure through the Municipal Transport Financing Act (GVFG) to two billion euros, which is one billion euros more than previously planned. This is in line with a long-standing demand of the Association of German Cities. However, this must not wait until 2025. These funds must already take effect in the current amendment to municipal financing in this legislative period. The federal states must also support this with additional funds." These funds are used to implement or expand light rail, underground and streetcar systems, which have kept urban transport alive to this day. The Association of German Cities is also committed to ensuring that the program funds can be used to fundamentally renew ÖPNV systems in need of renovation. This is also a prerequisite for achieving an impact with digitalization measures in ÖPNV.
The cities support the fact that the CO2 reduction targets for all sectors should be set and regularly reviewed. Only in this way can adjustments to the measures be introduced promptly.
Climate protection in cities and expansion of renewable energies
The Deputy President of the Association of German Cities, Lord Mayor Wolfgang Griesert from Osnabrück, said with regard to the expansion of renewable energies that the planned reduction in the EEG levy made sense in correspondence with CO2 pricing, also in order to favor cleaner electricity and promote the switch to "green" electricity. However, this also includes an ambitious expansion of renewable energies.
Regarding the cities' commitment to climate protection, the Deputy President of the German Association of Cities emphasized: "Climate protection is a global challenge that cities have been actively tackling for many years. This also applies to adapting to climate change as another important task for the future, which we are addressing alongside many other national and regional needs for action. Climate protection is currently a key issue in many town halls. Cities are expanding their use of renewable energies and working with their municipal utilities to reduce their CO2 emissions. They are accelerating the transition to sustainable mobility. They are driving forward the energy-efficient refurbishment of buildings and taking climate protection criteria more into account in urban land-use planning. Every city is currently discussing what more can be done to achieve the Paris climate targets. We must use these discussions to make further progress in sustainable urban redevelopment," says Griesert.
Initiatives that strengthen municipal climate protection and private commitment to more climate protection, such as the "Fridays for Future" movement, could support the work of the cities. The Association of Cities recommends that cities examine and implement local climate protection projects together with social groups and organizations active in climate protection, such as climate alliances, Agenda 21 groups and student movements. In a number of cities, this is already common practice or is already underway.