Julian Zuber | CEO of German Zero
Interview given to Ms Maria Louisa Vafiadaki
-Which problem are you mainly addressing with your “1.5 legislative package” and why is the German government insufficient in addressing climate change and protecting the environment ?
The problem that we are trying to resolve is that there has not been any lobbying. There are economically organized interest lobby groups, the climate movement has been good at creating political awareness but insufficient in lobbying politicians and the administration to really implement regulation that creates change. The main problem is that climate change is a systemic challenge and it is highly complex.
Politics is a very closed and fragmented division of labor, but what we need is a systemic approach, because you need to change everything at the same time. This is why we have not simply created a carbon neutral plan, but actually a full 1.5 legislative package that starts from the main question which is how large is our available budget as a country and then we think backwards and calculate which sectors need to reduce, in which ways and what regulations do we need etc... We have created a network of 100 organizations, 400 volunteers and 300 experts and have selected the most effective and fair policies which are open to technological development.
A picture of the GZ team in front of the German parliament last summer, presenting our 1.5 legislative plan.
-What does the 1.5 legislative plan entail ? Can you mention some key points and measure which you’d like to address ?
The backbone is lean and renewable energy. It is necessary to make a bold statement, because the current legislation is made to subsidize renewable energy, but not to structure a society based 100% on renewables. The second part is the transport sector, where we need to drastically change how you think about transport, how you design it. Thirdly, we have the construction sector, where we need to boost up insulation in existing buildings.
Then, we have the agriculture sector, which needs a massive transformation in how we produce and consume food. Lastly, an important factor is the pricing system. We need reforms at national and European level. Product price adjustment may sound complicated but is absolutely needed. Most politicians know that something needs to change. The problem is that there is little time and they need political pressure to act.
A collection of photos from this year´s handover of legislative propositions to members of the German Bundestag from parties of SPD, Gruene, FDP, CDU and Die Linke.
-How realistic is to try to regulate all the above ?
The real question is what needs to change. Often, it is political will which is lacking not the “unrealistic goals”. The first step is to ask ourselves what is necessary and ethically just and for most people, politics is the ability to do what is necessary. And it is important to acknowledge: Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees is realistic, if we act now, through regulations!
What is your representation ? Are you participating in the German Bundestag ?
We do not run as a political party, but we lobby the Bundestag as citizens and so far have received almost 70 climate pledges from current members of our parliament to support our cause and legislative plan. In fact, people who are based in Germany can actually send an email to their regional MP and ask him to sign a climate pledge through our email-campaign. Our approach is to partner with politicians through active dialogue. We also support them in gaining a better understanding on how to make the limit of 1.5 degrees possible by law – after all not all politicians are climate-specialized.
Secondly, we partner with the Committee for Finance and Energy and Climate and have established strong bonds.
The third pillar is about local referendums. We create change where it is possible without legislative change. We support teams who start their local initiative -for e.g. a referendum- where citizens collect votes and the municipality is asked to check whether their city can be climate neutral by 2035. They submit a plan and if it’s possible, they vote for it in the local council. So far, we ‘ve had over 80 climate referendums and 23 of them have entered the second stage of the implementation. This puts pressure on the EU and the federal level but it also makes it easier for politicians to advocate the necessary steps.
-Where are you based geographically ?
We are based in Germany and focus primarily on Germany, but we are currently developing strategies to support other countries to launch these local referendums and launch programmes on a local basis for e.g. FranceZero, ItalyZero.
A picture of our local climate decision teams in Dresden
-How can Germany become climate neutral by 2035 ? How can we really deal with climate change in today’s modern world both as citizens and as governments ?
I see this happening in 2 ways: the federal and local approach. In terms of the federal approach, we need regulation and we need to vote the right MPs to lobby within Parliament for these changes. The main approach is political, we need to launch local referendums for climate neutrality.
In terms of the local approach, you can of course set an example by starting with your own house and your own behavior. We can do things by ourselves e.g. flying less, consuming less meat etc. But you also have these democratic rights that you can use to force change, such as mobilizing people through a signature campaign, forcing a petition or referendum. These work much easier on a local level.
None the less, the big lever will always be making changes within the law. That will guarantee that Germany (and all other countries for that matter) will be keeping the promises made within the Paris Agreement.
-What are your sources of finance ?
At the moment, we have a budget of 2.000.000 euros, which is a solid number after only being active as GermanZero for 2,5 years. We are 100% financed by donations. Roughly, I would estimate that 1/3 comes from small donations, 1/3 comes from project foundation support and the remaining 1/3 is roughly large private donations whose donations start more 50.000 euros. We have very ethical standards, so we only accept donations from organizations which are top notch in sustainability. The important thing to us is to remain independent.
A signature campaign in Jena.
-Lastly, how can one get involved in this ?
Firstly, you can support us by subscribing to our newsletter , secondly you can launch climate referendums after we train you with like-minded people and finally, you can start a local crew that communicates with politicians. We train volunteers to lobby with their politicians. And of course we are always thankful for any small amount of donations to keep us moving forward on our mission.
Thank you.