“Not everything that is desirable will also be feasible”: In view of global crises such as the Ukraine war and climate change, the head of the association of cities calls for the traffic light goals to be reprioritized.
The Association of Towns and Municipalities has called on the traffic light to revise its coalition agreement in order to set stronger priorities in view of the changed circumstances. “Against the background of the turning point with the war in Ukraine, climate change, climate adaptation and migration movements, our country is facing huge challenges,” general manager Gerd Landsberg told the newspapers of the Funke media group. He called for “the coalition agreement, which was agreed before the turning point, to be revised and the goals to be prioritized”.
Landsberg warned: “After the state has invested billions for the gas and electricity price brake and the national debt has reached a high of over 2.3 trillion euros, not everything that is desirable will also be feasible.”
The necessary prioritization includes, for example, in the case of basic child security, “the focus on investments in good schools, good childcare and appropriate all-day offers”. “A clearer focus would also be required for climate protection measures, such as the heat transition.”
Funds required to replace old heaters
Landsberg argued that most would be achieved for climate protection if the oldest heating systems and the heating systems in the largest buildings were replaced first and the corresponding funds were available for this purpose. The municipalities have a key role here with their buildings. “However, this can only work if, in particular, financially weak municipalities are given the opportunity to make the appropriate investments.”
Especially with the heat transition, it is crucial “that we take people with us and not constantly unsettle them with new prohibitions or bids,” said Landsberg. The necessary sense of reality also includes an examination of “what capacities the sanitary industry actually has and in what time what, where and how could be implemented”.
Source: Stern
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