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Climate adaptation law comes into force on July 1

In future, Germany must be better prepared for extreme weather events such as heavy rain, storms and extreme temperatures. A law that comes into force on Monday should make a decisive contribution to this.

,   and  Ann Bradley
4 min read
"It is an illusion to think that the government's inadequate climate protection could be offset by...
"It is an illusion to think that the government's inadequate climate protection could be offset by more adaptation."

Consequences of global warming - Climate adaptation law comes into force on July 1

Climate Change is Reality - and its consequences are now being felt by many people in Germany. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, and so-called century-floods no longer only occur once per century.

This means that those who do not adapt to these effects and redesign their environment accordingly have lost. Germany still has a long way to go - which is now being significantly accelerated by the new Climate Adaptation Law, which comes into force on this Monday.

Mandatory instead of voluntary

The law binds the Federal Government and the States to present strategies that enable comprehensive climate protection. Concretely, the law sets a framework for crisis prevention measures in heavy rain hotspots or for improving heat protection for particularly endangered groups such as the elderly and infants.

Until now, the creation of such concepts in the municipalities has been voluntary. The new law makes this task mandatory for all. The Federal Government, in turn, is obliged to "present a preventive climate adaptation strategy with measurable targets, regularly update it, and continuously implement it," as Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) explained. The aforementioned strategy will be available by the end of the year.

For the Minister, it is clear: Prevention must now be pushed forward with high pressure to minimize future damage from weather extremes. This means more financial involvement from the Federal Government, as Lemke repeatedly emphasizes. Her ministry estimates the financial requirement for implementing climate adaptation measures by 2030 at 38 billion euros. Where exactly this money will come from is still unclear. The new law also leaves this question unanswered.

Climate adaptation managers are getting to work on site

For adaptation, the States are primarily responsible. In many communities, climate adaptation managers have taken up the work in recent years. They develop adaptation concepts locally and advise their respective municipality on how to proceed in the event of heavy rain and where more green spaces can be planted.

According to its own statements, the Federal Environment Ministry has so far funded 125 positions for adaptation managers. However, it is unclear how many of these positions have already been filled. There is no reporting requirement for the specific staffing.

One who has been in office since August 2023 is Jan-Hendrik Jochens from Saarbrücken. He is the only climate adaptation manager in Saarland, which was recently hit hard by heavy flooding. When he thinks about the new law, he has hope that it will lead to faster adaptation to the effects of the climate crisis in the future.

The concept for the city of Saarbrücken is expected to be completed by the coming summer. However, it is still unclear how many such concepts have already been completed and implemented. The Federal Environment Agency is currently conducting a survey on this and will present the results in September. By September 30, the Federal States must inform the Ministry of Lemke for the first time how many concepts have already been created. This inventory, which is to be repeated every two years, is explicitly provided for in the new law.

For Climate activists like Clara Reemtsma of Fridays for Future, this is not enough. "It's an illusion to think that the inadequate climate protection of the government can be balanced out by more adaptation," she told dpa. If the Federal Government does not do more to stop global warming, she is "consciously taking the escalation of the climate crisis into account." While the Climate Adaptation Law is being passed, the Federal Government is still missing its climate targets and is therefore "failing on the most important issue of disaster prevention."

Dispute over insurance liability for natural disasters

Many gaps still exist, and activists are not the only ones complaining about it. Experts, for example, have been calling for an expansion of insurance coverage in the population for a long time. A liability insurance that could protect all homeowners from ruin in the event of flood damage has not been able to be achieved in politics so far.

Here in Germany, only about 50 percent of private buildings are insured against natural disasters - that is, against damages that, for example, can occur through flooding. The federal states are clearly in favor of liability insurance and refer to the high costs that the state had to bear, for example, after the July floods in 2021. The German Insurance Association estimates these costs at around 9 billion Euros.

And yet: The Federal Government sees liability insurance critically. FDP Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, for example, refers to higher costs for the general public and too much bureaucracy.

It is clear, however, that the next flood is coming. And the dispute over who bears the costs for it, definitely also.

Climate Adaptation Law

  1. The consequences of Climate Change are being felt more frequently in Germany, with extreme weather events becoming more common and century-floods no longer occurring once per century.
  2. The new Climate Adaptation Law, set to take effect on Monday, binds the Federal Government and the States to present strategies for comprehensive climate protection.
  3. The law makes it mandatory for municipalities to develop crisis prevention measures in heavy rain hotspots and improve heat protection for vulnerable groups.
  4. Until now, the creation of such concepts in municipalities was voluntary, but the new law makes this task mandatory for all.
  5. Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke emphasizes the need for prevention to minimize future damage from weather extremes and calls for more financial involvement from the Federal Government.
  6. The Federal Environment Ministry has funded 125 positions for adaptation managers, but it's unclear how many of these positions have been filled.
  7. In Saarbrücken, which was recently hit hard by heavy flooding, climate adaptation manager Jan-Hendrik Jochens hopes the new law will lead to faster adaptation to the effects of the climate crisis.
  8. The dispute over who bears the costs of natural disasters, including liability insurance, will continue as experts call for an expansion of insurance coverage and the Federal Government sees liability insurance critically.

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