Three in four German municipalities say they have been hit by negative climate change effects - survey

A vast majority of municipalities in Germany have already suffered from the impacts of climate change, according to a survey commissioned by the country's environment agency (UBA). Seventy-seven percent of municipalities stated that they had been affected by extreme weather events - such as heatwaves or flooding from extreme rainfall - or other negative consequences of climate change in the past ten years. But only 12 percent said they had a climate adaptation plan, with 41 percent saying they’ve implemented concrete measures for climate adaptation. Environment minister Steffi Lemke said that the climate crisis will play out differently in different parts of Germany and therefore municipalities will play a key role. “They know the local conditions best and can therefore take appropriate measures to protect people,” she said.

The survey found that a lack of human resources (80 percent) and financial resources (73 percent) are the most significant obstacles to planning or implementing climate adaptation measures. Lemke said she was in favour of a constitutional reform that would oblige the federal and state governments to carry out and co-finance municipal climate protection and climate adaptation tasks - a reform NGOs called for last year. Germany made it legally binding for municipalities to draw up adaptation plans on 1 July under the Climate Adaptation Act.

Insured damages from extreme weather events in Germany rose by 1.7 billion in 2023 when compared to 2022. A report from May found that Germany's towns and cities are insufficiently prepared to deal with more frequent and more severe flooding, periods of high heat, and drought and water shortages. It called for municipalities across the country to urgently undertake climate risk assessments and prepare hazard and risk maps to identify hotspots for flooding as well as severe heat.