Bernhard panzer admittedly, in the current times of the corona crisis, it is not easy to think about future major events and their effects on the climate. Especially since the burger’s CO2 emissions are currently rather low – there are simply no events. The planning committee has dealt with the issue for a long time. And even before corona and the exit restriction, a basic resolution was passed.
This provides for financial compensation for the environmental impact and greenhouse gases caused by the staging of city events. In short: every visitor to the summer church fair, for example, "pays" an environmental levy.
No entry
Of course, this is not to be understood literally. "We can’t charge 15 cents for the summer church fair", noted mayor german hacker (SPD). The city will pay for the levy. 30 000 euros will be included in the budget. This is to demand additional climate protection projects of the city.
The administration proposed, for example, the distribution of sustainable school materials to fifth-graders or a subsidy for the purchase of eco-free work clothes for city employees. You could have a trade-in for power guzzlers "who has the oldest refrigerator??" support, or financially demand the maintenance of e-bikes.
For retta muller-schimmel from the grunen these mabnahmen were a farce. Many things are necessary anyway, but she understands the term "additional" to mean something different. Savings had to be made in meat consumption, for example. The feisty city councilor also addressed the given example of okoc clothing. The mayor has to buy fairly and ecologically anyway, she noted.
Hacker described this as "two pairs of shoes". You have to consider this as an island takeaway. Retta muller-schimmel stuck to her guns: "it’s a horse-trading deal." we shouldn’t use the money for "purchases" that we’ve already committed ourselves to anyway." something additional should be done. That is exactly what is planned, they replied.
Konrad korner (CSU) didn’t like the green’s advance. "If the retta were consistent, it would have to demand that the summer church fair be canceled – because of the climate!" (editor’s note: they canceled the okofest a few days later, but because of corona).
Korner (CSU) criticized the fact that the money was not also to be invested in corresponding projects in the partner city of kaya. 5000 euro for an energy object were there nevertheless quite meaningfully. Head of administration gerhard hofler clarified that climate protection projects outside the city’s jurisdiction could not be included in this requirement. There is no legal basis for this. On it jurist korner: "I liked to see this right supervision, which became the city the deny."
Six kilos per participant
The city administration arrived at the amount of 30,000 euros by calculating attendance figures. It was assumed that a participant causes an average of six kilograms of CO2. Of course, the city is already working continuously to reduce the environmental impact of its own events. This is done, among other things, by using reusable dishes or environmental paper for flyers and also by providing special buses. So it says in the statement of the administration. With these mabnahmen, however, not all climate-damaging effects could be avoided or mitigated.