New project: More climate protection for less money

How can local authorities in Germany achieve maximum climate protection with as little money as possible? As cities and communities face tighter budgets, this issue is becoming increasingly pressing in endeavors to meet Germany’s ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gases. On behalf of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), adelphi has taken on a new project that aims to answer this question.

As municipal budgets struggle with falling income levels and increasing expenses, authorities are nonetheless required to invest in effective measures for climate protection. These circumstances highlight the growing importance of innovative concepts for overcoming the investment and financing obstacles that stand in the way of local climate-protection measures. Over the next 12 months, adelphi will investigate innovative financial instruments for local climate-protection initiatives with the help of literature studies, an extensive empirical survey and expert interviews. The project will look at instruments such as ‘contracting’, which is often used for financing major redevelopment schemes. With this form of financing, for example, an external service provider might cover the costs of insulating a municipal building. The city will pay the contractor over the following years with funds that have become available through savings in energy costs.

To present and explain the most reliable financial instruments available, adelphi will develop a handbook for representatives from local authorities as part of the project for the Ministry. Further to suggestions for overcoming budget restrictions, other obstacles to local climate-protection measures will also be summarized and discussed in a policy paper.

The project is an undertaking of the Federal Ministry for the Environmental within the framework of the National Climate Initiative.