Act locally, change globally: District works on climate strategy

The climate has changed noticeably in recent years. 2018 was the warmest year since weather records began. The development shows: CO2 emissions must be urgently reduced and climate protection must be considered in all fields of action - also in Waldeck-Frankenberg. The district is working on a strategy for this.

"Acting sustainably should become the norm"
The goal: to reduce the negative consequences of global warming on the quality of life and to maintain as healthy an environment as possible. "Climate protection is the key to limiting the further increase of greenhouse gases and keeping the long-term consequences of climate change at a manageable level," says District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst. "Sustainable action should not become an optional extra, but the norm." Municipal commitment to climate protection is an important pillar in this regard, he says, in order to further advance the process of rethinking.

Pooling strengths and expertise centrally
The first steps in this direction have already been taken: a few weeks ago, the Climate Protection Unit was merged with the district's Environment Department to form the new Environment and Climate Protection Department. This means that climate protection aspects are not only considered from the outset in building, nature conservation and environmental approval processes. Climate protection will also become one of the central building blocks in urban land use planning and participation procedures and an important aspect in advising municipalities and building owners. By linking the department to the specialist service, using the same specialist software and a joint environmental and climate protection strategy, approval processes should also be shortened as much as possible.

Two new climate protection positions created
To this end, the specialist service has already been strengthened in terms of personnel: two additional positions have been created. A civil engineer for air-conditioning technology and an environmental engineer will take up their work in the next few weeks - and will develop a practical climate protection concept with concrete goals and measures from the forward-looking conceptual considerations already developed in the past months and implement it step by step.

Networking with partners from all over Waldeck-Frankenberg
However, the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg cannot implement this alone: "Networking is the key word here. "We want to develop a holistic concept and establish an inter-communal climate protection management in which we include all cities and municipalities, initiatives, associations and partners from industry and business," explains the First District Commissioner of the district Karl-Friedrich Frese. "We can only initiate a turnaround in the areas of mobility, energy, industry, consumption, nutrition, construction and housing together."

Therefore, the district is working closely in this area with, among others, the association "Climate Neutral Waldeck-Frankenberg", which was founded last year and of which it is also a founding member and District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst is the patron. Municipalities, energy suppliers, companies, associations, public bodies and farms are jointly pursuing the goal of making Waldeck-Frankenberg climate-neutral by 2035.

"We municipalities have a key role to play and many fields of action - from structural development concepts and the energy-efficient refurbishment of municipal buildings to energy-saving measures, mobility and sustainable forestry," emphasise van der Horst and Frese. Avoidance instead of compensation is the guiding principle. "We want to agree on common goals, work together towards them and join forces to integrate climate protection and sustainability as an overriding maxim in all institutions and facilities of the municipal family."