More cooperation needed, KLIMAready survey finds

"Sustainability is now firmly anchored in companies across Hamburg," said Melanie Leonhard, Senator for Economics. Several companies have set out to actively shape climate-friendliness in the city. The biogas and composting plant in Bützberg is to increase the amount of biomethane by producing green hydrogen and funded by the German government. Hamburger Hochbahn, Aurubis and seven other companies have won the German Sustainability Prize 2025 for setting news standards in climate protection. "We want even more cooperation! Only together can we master the challenges and prepare Hamburg for a climate-friendly future," Leonhard added.

Almost all respondents expressed concern about climate change and sustainability with around 71 per cent of respondents saying that they are most frequently affected by energy transformation, i.e. the use of renewable energy, electromobility and energy efficiency. Resource efficiency (62 per cent) and regulatory requirements (58 per cent) play a role. Clearly, customers' expectations are a key factor for more than half of respondents. Technological requirements, such as new drive systems, are important for around 23 per cent of the organisations surveyed. The perceived relevance of the individual factors increases as the company grows in size. SMEs with up to 50 employees lag well behind the average, especially in terms of potential employees' expectations, climate adaptation and climate resilience. Around 9 per cent of respondents had not yet implemented or planned any corresponding measures. Most (67 per cent) were working on renewable energy measures or sustainable technology for generating energy. More than half of respondents had drawn up a sustainability strategy and/or sustainability reports and trained employees accordingly and/or hired new staff.

According to the survey, the three biggest challenges to climate-friendly measures are

• additional workload (48 per cent)
• regulatory uncertainty (52 per cent)
• funding or high implementation costs (66 per cent)

The companies surveyed requested support from KLIMAready in terms of information, networking opportunities and assistance with generating and using renewable energy, sustainable mobility, lowering emissions and energy efficiency. All agreed on the need for more cooperation. Almost all respondents (94.5 per cent) expressed interest in co-operating while 62 per cent presently discuss the exeuction of climate-friendly measures with other organisations.

The partners to KLIMAready are now planning a cluster bridge based on the needs analysis. Climate-relevant topics will be identified, evaluated and measures developed across sectors. The findings will be analysed in closer detail to design more cluster bridges. A new website will be set up with information on regulations, funding schemes and offers on sustainable corporate development for the Hamburg Metropolitan Region as well as best practices. The three-year KLIMAready project has received a subsidy of EUR 2 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and is also funded by the City of Hamburg. 
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