SPD ministries present an action plan for climate adaptation – Union skeptical

The agreement states that the financing of preventive measures against the impacts of climate change should be put on a "solide Beine" basis, that municipalities should be supported, and that it should be examined whether climate adaptation and nature conservation can be enshrined as a "Gemeinschaftsaufgabe". The action plan is intended to translate this examination into concrete policy.

Criticism from the Union

From the SPD’s perspective, the existing division of responsibilities among the federal government, federal states, and municipalities is no longer sufficient to address the growing burdens caused by heat waves, heavy rainfall, and drought. Cities and municipalities need to be able to rely on federal funding for investments in sponge cities, heat protection, and water management, according to ministry circles.

The Union is reacting cautiously to the initiative. In initial statements, Union politicians pointed to the existing financing instruments and warned against new bureaucratic structures. In addition, any amendment to the Basic Law would require the two-thirds majority stipulated in the Basic Law in both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, setting the bar high.

According to reports, concerns are being expressed in particular by states governed by the Union that a new joint task could undermine the states’ authority in spatial planning and disaster protection. It remains open whether Bavaria and other states would support such an initiative in the Bundesrat.

Support from the Greens

The initiative also receives support from the opposition: The Greens have signaled their willingness to support the black-red coalition’s proposal in the Bundestag. The parliamentary group sees the amendment to the Basic Law as an opportunity to relieve municipalities on a permanent basis and move climate adaptation out of the realm of voluntary funding policy.

With regard to the timetable, government circles refer to the cabinet retreat agreed in the coalition agreement, at which the initiative is to be discussed. In the meantime, the SPD ministries involved want to submit a coordinated draft that brings together the legal, financial, and organizational cornerstones.

Impact on municipalities

Observers also see the initiative as an attempt by the SPD to set its own accents in a policy field dominated by the Union. Within the federal government, climate adaptation is considered an issue that must be coordinated among the Environment, Interior, and Building ministries. A spokesperson for the federal government said that the action plan would be discussed in the cabinet.

Municipalities and municipal umbrella organizations, which in recent years have increasingly pointed to the burdens caused by extreme weather events, welcomed the initiative in principle. However, they are calling for reliable and dynamic funding so that investments do not fail because of the financial situation of individual cities and municipalities.

It remains unanswered whether, in addition to being enshrined as a joint task, a specific federal-state financing arrangement under Article 104a of the Basic Law is also being examined. According to SPD circles, this remains an open option. The Union has so far considered such a solution unnecessary.

If the coalition actually initiates the amendment to the Basic Law, it would require votes from the ranks of the Greens or at least from parts of the Left, since the black-red majority is insufficient for a two-thirds majority. The initiative thus moves into the realm of potentially compromise-based legislation in the Bundestag.