"It is crucial that we lose no time and continue to implement the climate plan because climate change will not wait for us," said Jens Kerstan, Senator for the Environment, Energy and Climate. "At the same time, we are boosting the economy and preserving jobs in Hamburg with this additional funding. We now have to ensure that the climate plan and the new climate protection law are funded over the coming years."
The senate agreed Wednesday (August 11, 2020) to put an additional EUR 25 million towards the Hamburg Climate Plan. Adopted last December, the plan involves 400 measures to save around seven million tons of CO2 by 2030. The project is one of the most important economic climate plans in Hamburg.
Kerstan: "Climate change will not wait."
Key economic and climate project
The first "Climate protection and economic stimulus package" is one and the same. A large part of the money will go towards the Investitions- und Förderbank's development programme to increase the share of renewable energies in heating, the energy-orientated refurbishment of commercial buildings and the national "Companies for Resource Protection" programme for SMEs and developing innovative products.
Mobility transition and reforestation
The focus is also on the mobility transition and expanding the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and making the "Hamburg Takt" a reality. Around EUR 1.5 million will go towards planting new trees and reforestation this year. The coalition has vowed to invest between EUR 2 billion and EUR 3 billion in climate protection by 2030 and to slash CO2 emissions by 55 per cent over levels in 1990. Hamburg aims to become climate-neutral before 2050.
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