26.11.2024
Presentation of the “Yearbook of Federalism 2024” – in cooperation with the State Representation of Baden-Württemberg
On 20 November 2024, the ECRF officially presented the ‘Yearbook of Federalism 2024’. This year's presentation was once again held at the State Representation of Baden-Württemberg in Berlin.
After a pre-reception with delicious Swabian specialities, Mr. Iordanis Daniel Mouratidis, Head of Staff of the Plenipotentiary to the Federal Government, welcomed the guests. Prof. Gabriele Abels, Speaker for the Executive Board of the ECRF, then presented the topics of the Yearbook, which is published for the 25th time this year and focuses on the topic of ‘Climate Change – Federal Responses to a Global Challenge’.
Prof. Abels then discussed the topic of ‘Climate Protection in Federal Interaction’ with Dr. Felix Schenuit (EU/Europe Research Division & Research Cluster Climate Policy and Politics; Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik), Mr. Daniel Willeke (1st Chairman of Bundesverband Klimaschutz; Climate Adaptation Manager of the project Leuchturm LOUISE) and Mr. Michael Schäfer (Managing Director of GermanZero). The discussion centred on the question of whether the German federal system would represent an opportunity or rather an obstacle to an effective climate policy. The panellists were unanimous in their verdict: ‘Both!’
Dr. Schenuit argued that federalism could, to a certain extent, act as a safety net for decisions already made in climate policy: at European level, it would not be easy to reverse the Green Deal. Federalism would also play an important role in damage control in light of the upcoming change of power in the USA: If the Trump administration were to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement again, states such as California and their climate protection efforts could, to some extent, counteract this. Mr. Willeke spoke out in favour of making climate protection a mandatory task for all federal levels, as the heterogeneity in federal climate protection often stands in the way of effective measures. Mr. Schäfer also agreed with this assessment: He said that it was definitely necessary to ask the question of where federalism was helpful and where standardised regulation should take place instead. He also emphasised that climate protection must be initiated at all federal levels: At supranational or European level, the Green Deal, for example, had been a significant impetus, but numerous exemplary climate protection concepts had also been developed at local level, in cities and municipalities. Nonetheless, much more effort is needed in the municipalities: Just like democracy, climate protection also depends on the commitment of citizens! Mr. Willeke also agreed with this, warning that the financing of all climate protection efforts must be ensured at all levels – temporary funding programmes or projects are neither sufficient nor sustainable. However, he also argued in favour of not investing too much energy in getting everyone and anyone excited about climate protection before concrete measures are taken – it would ‘not be possible to get everyone on board’. The panellists agreed that neither climate protection should be sacrificed to democracy nor democracy to climate protection – a healthy balance must be found instead.
The three panellists also agreed that climate policy should not only focus on mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but that more attention should also be paid to adapting to the already unavoidable consequences of climate change. Dr. Schenuit stated in this regard that the latter had long been merely a niche topic at EU level, but was now definitely on the rise and that concrete steps could be expected from the new European Commission. Mr. Willeke also emphasised that both mitigation and adaptation were needed to tackle the climate crisis. At the local level, he said, people could often be more quickly mobilised in favour of adaptation measures, as these usually result from being more directly affected by the consequences of climate change. However, many climate protection measures can often serve both goals at the same time: For example, newly planted trees provide shade and thus offer cooling on increasingly hot summer days, but at the same time make an important contribution to the reduction of climate-damaging greenhouse gases by storing CO2.
The ECRF would like to thank Dr. Schenuit, Mr. Willeke and Mr. Schäfer for the excellent panel discussion and all participants. We would also like to thank the State Representation of Baden-Württemberg for the once again excellently organised event and Nomos-Publishing, which once again provided a book table with a selection of exciting publications this year.
Further information on the “Yearbook of Federalism 2024”, which also contains an article by Dr. Schenuit on the climate policy of the European Union, and how to order it can be found here.
