The Green Party is calling for a five-billion-euro program to improve heat protection in Germany. “Our country is still not adequately prepared for the constantly recurring and increasingly prolonged heat records,” Julia Verlinden, deputy leader of the Green parliamentary group, told the news agency AFP on Thursday. Five billion euros from the special fund could “create many green oases across Germany and provide effective cooling for people and animals.” This amounts to 60 euros per citizen.
“Ice cream and swimming lakes bring joy to many in the summer, but current fever-level temperatures pose a threat to the health and lives of babies, the elderly, and the sick,” warned Verlinden. “Everyone is currently feeling the effects of the climate crisis, especially in cramped, sweltering cities dominated by gray concrete.” She criticized the fact that, despite this situation, “the federal government is actually fueling the climate crisis further through policies driven by the fossil fuel lobby.”
However, a change of course is needed: “Instead of stone and concrete, we need more trees and water—to provide shade and cooling, including in our cities,” Verlinden urged. Preserving and protecting existing green spaces must become a binding goal for local authorities. The Green Party politician also called for “a strategy to de-seal surfaces, allowing the soil to store water and cool the surrounding area again, rather than continuing to heat up.”
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Verlinden pointed to scientific findings indicating that extreme heat poses a life-threatening risk, particularly to the elderly and those requiring care, babies and young children, pregnant women, and people with pre-existing medical conditions. However, it also harms the economy and drives up costs due to reduced productivity or higher energy expenses. Drought dries out the soil and jeopardizes the water supply.
The call for a five-billion-euro program—to be funded by the special fund for infrastructure and climate neutrality—along with other proposed measures, is set out in two motions submitted by the Green Party. The Bundestag is debating these motions on Thursday afternoon. The motions also call on the federal government to advocate for the planting of three billion new trees across Europe by 2030. Furthermore, the Greens are pushing for green roofs and facades, the restoration of peatlands and floodplains, and increased access to free drinking water.
Author: AFP – bk/awe
Sources: AFP Press Portal