Berlin/Brandenburg

Berlin is cutting back on the future: massive cuts in the areas of climate and environment are threatening the quality of life in our city.

hochC Landschaftsarchitektur GmbH

The Berlin-Brandenburg regional association of the Association of German Landscape Architects (bdla) is outraged by the announced cuts in the areas of climate protection and adaptation, environmentally friendly transport and environmental protection that the Berlin Senate has decided on for 2025. With a cut of at least 76 million euros, an alarming prioritization becomes clear, which will have a negative impact on the quality of life in the city in the short, medium and long term.

The planned cuts will affect, among others

• the state-owned Grün Berlin GmbH, which is responsible for the development and maintenance of around 800 hectares of green spaces and parks, among other things (cut of €22 million = 25%),
• the promotion of pedestrian and bicycle traffic as well as noise protection measures (cut of around €18 million = 50%)
• Measures to make Berlin more climate-resilient, improve the quality of its waters and develop its forests for the future (cut of around €36 million = 41%)

These drastic cuts are not only an attack on nature, environmental and climate protection measures, but also endanger the urban quality of life. Green spaces, trees and forests are essential for heat protection.

"The prioritization of transport and the environment is impressively brazen," says a commentary in the Tagesspiegel. The disproportionate cuts not only affect essential areas such as road noise reduction, pedestrian and cycling safety and environmental education, but also undermine the foundations for sustainable urban development. If, for example, savings are made in the urban landscape strategy, this means that Berlin will be able to plant fewer urban trees. On the other hand, residents' parking will not become a cent more expensive, although Berlin's prices are the lowest in Germany.

The bdla sees these cuts as a step backwards for the transport transition in Berlin and as a blatant disregard for the growing challenges in the area of climate protection and climate adaptation.

The Berlin Senate obviously does not realize that savings must not be made in the crucial areas that determine the quality of life, and certainly not significantly more than in other areas. Under the slogan "Berlin is saving its future", it is clear that almost all savings ultimately come at the expense of sustainable development and a city worth living in. These savings contradict the requirements of the EU's Nature Restoration Law, which demands MORE and not LESS green and natural spaces and climate adaptation measures from all European cities in the future.

The bdla therefore appeals to the Senate and the House of Representatives to critically examine the announced cuts, increase revenues and invest sufficiently in Berlin's sustainable future and in improving the quality of life of its citizens.

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