When it comes to reducing greenhouse gases, the City of New York is primarily holding real estate owners responsible. The new environmental protection regulations are aimed at massively reducing the energy consumption of buildings, for example through better insulating windows. The stipulated 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions relates to the status of 2005. The Council decision applies to all buildings with a floor area of 2,300 square meters or more.
Most emissions come from burning oil and gas for heating, cooling and powering other equipment. The new regulation also affects operators of world-famous buildings such as the Empire State Building or the Trump Tower. Violations of the guidelines face heavy penalties: For every tonne of greenhouse gases that are released beyond the permitted amount, 268 dollars are due.
Investments of four billion dollars
A report by the mayor in 2016 showed that 67 percent of greenhouse emissions in the city of 8.6 million people were due to buildings. The city estimates that it will take around four billion dollars in investment to achieve the goals. The mayor of the largest city in the United States has yet to approve the new regulation. Local media reports, however, that Bill de Blasio wants to sign it.
The Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio
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The new rules for New York are among the most advanced in the world. They are in line with what left-wing US politicians such as Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are calling for a “Green New Deal”. The nonprofit organization Urban Green Council stated that the decision represents “the world’s most ambitious climate protection legislation in a city”. It affects 50,000 of the million buildings or the equivalent of two thirds of the built-up area of the city. City council spokesman Corey Johnson said he hoped other cities would follow New York’s lead and pass similar regulations.
Demo for climate protection in Rome
More climate protection – thousands of people took to the streets around the world on Friday to meet this demand. Thousands of mostly young people gathered in Rome alone – including the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. “We will continue our fight for our future,” emphasized the 16-year-old student to the cheers of the crowd in the central Piazza del Popolo.
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Thunberg campaigned in Rome for a radical change in direction in climate policy. Weeks or months were not enough for this; it takes years to change something. Since last summer, Thunberg has been demonstrating every Friday – mostly during school days – for more ambition in climate protection. Your school strike has inspired people all over the world to demonstrate under the motto “Fridays for Future”. A spokeswoman for the “Fridays for Future” movement in Italy spoke of around 25,000 participants.
Rallies in Germany too
Hundreds of people gathered in many cities in Germany, including Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Hamburg and Düsseldorf. “The climate crisis does not stop, neither do we,” wrote the activist Luisa Neubauer on Twitter. The students had been criticized in part for demonstrating during school hours and not in their free time.
The core demands of the “Fridays for Future” movement are: a quick end to the climate-damaging combustion of coal, oil and gas, no more subsidies for these “dirty” energy sources, more investments in renewable energies from wind power and sun. In fact, time is of the essence: According to the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the earth has already warmed up by around one degree Celsius compared with the pre-industrial era. According to analyzes by the World Weather Organization, the years 2015 to 2018 were the four warmest since records began in the 19th century.
If things continue as before, the world will be a good three degrees warmer by the end of this century. Depending on the region, the fatal consequences include more heat waves, longer droughts and more storms, heavy rain and floods. In order to stop the trend, the emission of greenhouse gases, for example from the burning of coal and oil or from animal husbandry, must be greatly reduced.
kle / sti (dpa, rtre, kna)
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