Kristine Kern & Wolfgang Haupt: German cities and climate change: An East-West divide?

Even 35 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, there are still many differences between East and West Germany. This applies to many policy areas, and climate policy is no exception. Examples include the existence of climate change acts (climate mitigation and adaptation) in the German federal states (Länder). While almost all states (Länder) in former West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany, FRG) set ambitious reduction goals for greenhouse gas emissions and measures to reach these goals (such as mandatory heat plans for local authorities), all states – except Thuringia – in former East Germany (German Democratic Republic, GDR) have decided against passing such laws.

The same applies to German cities and towns. Most forerunner cities (such as Münster, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Hanover, or Munich) are located in the former BRD, while most cities in the former GDR lag behind. Although bigger cities in the former GDR – often the state capitals – are far more active than their smaller counterparts, the number of forerunners in East Germany remains modest. The most striking examples are Potsdam, the state capital of the federal state of Brandenburg, and Rostock, the biggest city in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Why is there such a gap between the forerunner and the laggard cities? Studies have found that there are structural and contextual factors that support progressive local climate action. These factors may be more important than a city’s location in the eastern or western part of the country. The most important structural and contextual factors are: (1) a young and growing population; (2) low unemployment rates and a sound economy; (3) local political support for climate action; (4) a supportive and broadly diversified research environment; and (5) ownership of municipal companies (in particular in the energy, transport, and housing sectors).

Most of these factors also apply to Potsdam and Rostock. Both are growing cities of roughly the same size (with almost 190,000 inhabitants in Potsdam and around 209,000 in Rostock). Both cities started to tackle climate change already in the early 1990s, i.e., much earlier than most German cities. Both cities set ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and have – unlike many other German cities – significantly reduced their emissions. Although their outreach activities to promote their successful climate policies might be less developed than those of some cities in the western part of the country, Potsdam and Rostock can be considered as forerunners in Germany.

While research on subnational climate policies in Germany clearly shows an East-West divide, the cases of Potsdam and Rostock indicate that the development of ambitious climate mitigation and adaptation strategies is nonetheless feasible in post-socialist East German cities. However, such initiatives are not supported by the federal states (Länder), where Potsdam and Rostock are located. Indeed, the German federal states of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have been far less active in the area of climate policy than their peers in the former FRG (such as Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, or Schleswig-Holstein).

Therefore, cities like Potsdam and Rostock depend even more on national support to implement their ambitious climate policies than cities in West Germany. Both cities were supported not only by a general funding program (the so-called “Kommunalrichtlinie”), set up by the federal government in Berlin, but also by another national funding program for forerunners (“Masterplankommunen”). Cooperation and networking with other forerunner cities were most helpful for Potsdam and Rostock because support at regional level was missing. Instead, both cities applied for national funding and started to cooperate with other national and international forerunners.

Against the background of the current polycrisis, becoming climate-neutral has developed into a very challenging endeavor. Unlike forerunner cities in the Nordic countries, German cities still depend on fossil fuels to a large extent. Moreover, their own municipal funds are very limited, and support by the federal government in Berlin is declining, due to Germany’s current political and financial crisis. This situation has changed the political agenda in the whole country and may lead to cutbacks after the upcoming re-election, which will most likely affect cities and towns in East Germany stronger than their counterparts in the western part of the country. Nevertheless, the impacts of climate change depend on territorial and place-based vulnerabilities and will not follow the spatial patterns of the existing East-West divide.