07/14/2023
Source: German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection
The German Federal Ministry for the Environment today published the first funding guideline for municipalities under the "Action Program Natural Climate Protection" (ANK). With ANK, the federal government ensures that ecosystems are restored and preserved so that they can actively contribute to climate protection. The funding guideline "Natural Climate Protection in Municipal Areas in Rural Areas", which starts today, is intended to support municipalities in particular in natural climate protection on public land. Up to 100 million euros will be available for this in the coming years. Another funding program to Natural Climate Protection in companies starts on July 15 as part of the KfW environmental program.
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke: "The Action Program Natural Climate Protection continues to pick up speed. Now the first two funding guidelines go to the start: municipalities and companies that want to engage in climate protection and biodiversity, we will thus specifically promote. Their contribution is enormously important, because especially in rural communities there are forests and floodplains, soils and moors that can be strengthened. Whether it's more greenery in villages and towns, more measures to retain water in the landscape or the unsealing of soils: we are creating targeted synergies to both sequester carbon from the atmosphere and preserve biodiversity. These potentials benefit all living things. Healthy ecosystems provide a habitat for numerous plant and animal species and act as a buffer against the consequences of the climate crisis, for example by keeping water in the landscape and ensuring cooling in hot weather. This also increases the overall attractiveness of rural areas."
The municipal program for Natural Climate Protection promotes investment measures on the largest possible public areas that are not used for economic purposes. This includes, for example, the greening of villages and towns in a way that is close to nature and promotes biodiversity, the creation of roadsides and borders with hedges, copses and avenues on agriculturally used areas, and the renaturation of flowing and still waters. In addition, natural soil functions are to be restored through the desilting of areas. Overall, this will increase the attractiveness for municipalities and rural areas.
The BMUV is preparing further funding measures under the ANK, which will be published shortly. These involve offers for climate adaptation and urban nature as well as renaturation measures for moors, forests and floodplains and the development of wilderness in Germany. In total, up to four billion euros are available for funding measures in the ANK.
Background information
The German government's Natural Climate Action Program supports measures that combine climate protection with the creation and strengthening of diverse ecosystems. Forests and floodplains, soils and peatlands, oceans and bodies of water, as well as near-natural green spaces in populated areas, sequester carbon from the atmosphere and store it over the long term. They also act as a buffer against the consequences of the climate crisis by absorbing heavy rain and floods and providing cooling in hot weather. At the same time, they preserve our livelihoods, provide important habitats for animals and plants, store water and are places of refuge for people. The Natural Climate Protection Action Program contains 69 measures in a total of ten fields of action: Four billion euros are available for implementation by 2026.
In order to meet the high demand for information and advice on the part of actors* in natural climate protection, ZUG is currently establishing the Competence Center for Natural Climate Protection (KNK) on behalf of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN). As a nationwide contact point, it is to coordinate advice on Natural Climate Protection and the promotion of measures along all fields of action of the ANK in the federal states, regions and locally, as well as providing information and networking opportunities with numerous events. The opening of the center is planned for the beginning of October 2023 in Berlin.
Further information
For the implementation of the funding measure "Natural Climate Protection in Municipal Areas in Rural Areas", the BMUV has commissioned the Zukunft - Umwelt - Gesellschaft (ZUG) gGmbH as project management agency. Further information on the funding guideline as well as the application procedure can be found at www.z-u-g.org/ank-lk .
Information from the Federal Environment Ministry on ANK and natural climate protection can be found here: https://www.bmuv.de/natuerlicher-klimaschutz .
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