Green Cities - Where is the incentive? - Foundation Office Israel
Event Reports
President Shimon Peres had opened the conference a day before. In his welcome address he highlighted the deep and friendly relations between Israel and Germany. The mayors were welcomed cordially and their important role as intermediaries between government and civil society was stressed. Because of the network of sister cities, the President explained, that relationship received a strong personal foundation through people-to-people contacts among citizens of both countries. A central question of the debate on 12 November was whether “green issues” played a role at all in a country where security issues always seem to prevail.
Naomi Tsur, deputy mayor of Jerusalem, opened the discussion and shed light on the massive economic gap between East and West Jerusalem. With regard to environmental policy, she identified solid waste management and waste water treatment as the greatest challenges. Although the city undertook first steps to establish a waste separation, and thereby reaching already 13% of the solid waste, particularly in the eastern part of the city a reliable garbage disposal was not even guaranteed entirely. As a target it was agreed to increase the separation of waste to 15% per year. Another problem concerns rural landfills. Accordingly, they were destined to be closed in favor of a greater centralization of waste management. Waste water passing through the Kidron Valley, should be treated and be reused for agricultural purposes. Naomi Tsur also stressed the importance of cooperation with the Arab mayors in the eastern communities.
Günter Burger, Head of Department for International Relations of the City of Freiburg, turned to the question of whether “green policy” was a luxury or a necessity. 30 years ago that question was vigorously debated. But nowadays a conflict between economy and ecology seemed to be no longer the case: what is ecologically speaking a necessity, also pays off economically. Mr. Burger referred to his own city of Freiburg that aims for becoming a “zero-emission city”. In Germany, Freiburg is already known for being a pioneer in environmental issues.
Regarding the question if municipalities should set other priorities in times of financial and economic crisis, the panel had an unanimous answer: environmental policy cannot produce results overnight. One must understand the long term picture as opposed to actions that only have the election calendar in mind. Thus, the discussants related to investments that pay off in the long run, e.g. energy savings. Consequently, it is significant to create incentives for beneficial environmental practices. For example, the renunciation of the use of private cars could be achieved by high fees for parking combined with the subsidization of public transportation.
Lambert Lütkenhorst, Mayor of Dorsten, spoke about the decade-long process of structural change in his city in the Ruhr Valley. Due to the termination of the coal industry and the phasing out of nuclear energy, Mr. Lütkenhorst regarded the development of renewable energy sources as the biggest challenge of German environmental policy at present. That process needed an intensive participation from the public. Though the civil society must not function as a stopgap for the public sector, it should be involved in the sense of a partnership between local communities and their residents dedicated to reach common goals. As a positive example, Mr. Lütkenhorst explained the model of cooperatives in which citizens can hold shares in companies for wind energy and photovoltaics. At last, he made it clear that every single person should be aware of his or her responsibility in order to endorse sustainable behavior in the overall society.
In that context, participants from Germany mentioned several times a beggar-thy-neighbour attitude which must be overcome. Translated into the field of ecology it says: “Environmental protection, yes, but please not at my expense!” Especially in view of overcoming convenience and short-term thinking mobilizing the civil society sector was essential. Mr. Burger mentioned the example of the neighbourhood Freiburg-Vauban which private investors helped to create and which is now known for its high density of energy-efficient passive houses.
Focusing again on the Ruhr Valley, Dagmar Mühlenfeld, Mayor of Mülheim an der Ruhr, highlighted the specific problems of that area. Having been the core region of the German coal mining industry and the heavy industry, extreme environmental stress were characteristic for the region for decades. Nowadays, Willy Brandt's vision formulated in 1961 about the „blue sky over the Ruhr” has become a reality. Mühlheim became the first city where all coal mines were shut down, hence conditioning the city’s structural change for quite some time now. Meanwhile, 50% of the urban area are parks and green spaces. Because of downscaling or even terminating the mine and coal industry environmental policy has been on the agenda in Mühlheim for a long time. Mayor Mühlenfeld also underlined the importance of civic engagement in terms of environmental and climate protection. It was a special task as well as a special opportunity for municipalities, thanks to their proximity to the people to mobilize civil society participation.
Gil Livneh, Chairman of the Committee for Environmental Protection for ULAI, stressed the importance of education with regard to environmental protection. A heightened environmental awareness and an environmentally responsible behaviour started at home and at school. His grandson for example, refused plastic bags and did not accept them when shopping. Therefore, it must be the goal to “educate” people to the effect that they understand environmental protection in their own best interest.
Summing up the roundtable discussion, German-Israeli environmental cooperation should place a strong emphasis on awareness building measures and the involvement of the public. As a result, new perspectives for a future-oriented dialogue between the civil societies of both countries will develop.
Translated by Dr. Nadine Mensel
