Grüne: program for the 2022 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

The Greens want to conclude an industry pact with business that provides targeted support for investments in climate-neutral processes. Clear rules and targets are meant to give companies planning and investment certainty so that NRW remains a leading industrial region.

The Greens want to make a pact with industry. The state helps companies that want to produce in a climate-friendly way. Clear rules should give companies security for planning. This should create new jobs.

The Greens want North Rhine-Westphalia's economy to become climate neutral before 2040 if possible, and promise clear rules, funding and faster planning to get there. The party believes a policy that only preserves what exists will, over time, endanger more jobs than it saves.

The Greens want an economy that does not harm the climate. This should happen before 2040 if possible. Companies should get funding and clear rules. Planning should go faster. The internet should get better everywhere.

The Greens want to steer industry in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) toward climate neutrality and launch a state-level investment package for it. The platform argues that acting early secures the region's competitiveness. Long-term certainty for planning and investment is described as the core of this industrial policy.

The Greens want industry in NRW to stop harming the climate. The state should give money to industry for this. Companies should get clear rules. The Greens say: those who change early will have an advantage later.

The Greens want to keep the steel industry in NRW and convert it to climate-neutral production using green hydrogen. The federal and state governments are to make the necessary investments possible for companies. An EU-wide safeguard is meant to prevent dumping, including on climate.

The Greens want to keep the steel industry in NRW. In the future, steel should be made without harming the climate. This needs green hydrogen. That is hydrogen made with green electricity. The government should help companies with the change.

The Greens want to align structural change in the Rhenish lignite area and at hard-coal power plant sites with climate protection and social fairness. Local people are to have more say, and funding is to follow binding criteria. According to the platform, the region should become a model for others.

Jobs are disappearing in the coal regions. The Greens want to create new opportunities there. Local people should have a say. Public money should only go to projects that help the climate. Workers should be able to learn new jobs.

The Greens want to establish a transformation network in every car-making region of the state. It is to bring together workers, companies and local politics to manage the shift to electric and connected vehicles. Jobs that disappear are to be offset by retraining and new economic prospects.

Many people in NRW work in the car industry. Cars are changing a lot. For example, they run on electricity. The Greens want a network in every car region. Companies, workers and politicians plan together there. Workers should be able to learn new jobs.

The Greens want to expand the bioeconomy in NRW, meaning an economy based on renewable raw materials. A state funding program and a bioeconomy council are to support companies and research. This is meant to reduce dependence on fossil raw materials.

The Greens want to use raw materials from plants instead of oil. This is called the bioeconomy. The state should give companies money for this. A new council should advise on the topic. This should create new jobs.

The Greens see the skilled trades as central to the energy transition and want to strengthen them. They rely on collective bargaining, sector-specific minimum pay and fair competition. At the same time, red tape for small and mid-sized businesses is to be reduced.

The Greens say: climate protection needs skilled trades. Tradespeople should be paid fairly. The Greens want to act against very low wages. Small businesses should have less paperwork.

The Greens want to support people who take over a business. According to the platform, demographic change means many firms will soon need new owners. Small and mid-sized companies are to be preserved this way.

Many business owners will retire soon. Then the business needs a new owner. The Greens want to help these successors. They should get advice and cheap loans.

The Greens want to help small and mid-sized companies, solo self-employed people and cultural workers after the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who have to repay pandemic aid are to get more time to do so. Solo self-employed people and apprentices are to get better social protection.

COVID hit many small companies hard. Some have to pay back aid money. The Greens want to give them more time for this. Small companies should get more advice. Self-employed people without staff and apprentices should be better protected.

The Greens want to enable municipalities to keep their centers attractive with new uses, culture and places where people can spend time without buying anything. A fund is to let cities buy key properties. The aim is to prevent vacancies and decline.

Many city centers are losing shops. The Greens want to help the cities. Centers should get more culture and places to sit and stay. Cities should get state money to buy important buildings.

The Greens want to support small shops in selling online as well. The state is to help with investment costs and provide extra money for smart-city approaches. This is meant to let small stores survive alongside large online platforms.

Small shops should also be able to sell online. The Greens want to help them with money. This way the shops can hold their own against big online sellers.

The Greens want to help small tourism businesses restart after the pandemic and position NRW as a destination for sustainable travel. A Senne national park is to open up new opportunities for nature tourism in eastern Westphalia.

The Covid crisis hit hotels and travel firms hard. The Greens want to help small businesses. NRW should become known for eco-friendly travel. A new national park is planned in the Senne area.

The Greens want to make NRW the leader in start-up creation, since the program says the state trails Berlin and Bavaria. Plans include better grants, more start-up centers, expanded financing through NRW.BANK and a parental allowance for founders. Half of the funds are to go to women.

NRW has fewer new companies than Berlin and Bavaria. The Greens want to change that. There should be more advice and more money for founders. Half of the money should go to women.

Together with the federal government and other states, the Greens want to create a fund providing state-backed venture capital for future technologies. It is to enable investments whose risk regular banks avoid. Women entrepreneurs are to benefit in particular.

New technology needs a lot of money. Banks often find that too risky. The Greens want to set up a fund. The state backs the money in it. Women who run companies should benefit in particular.

The Greens want to digitize, speed up and partly automate administrative procedures for businesses. A central platform is to bundle all dealings with authorities. Solo self-employed people and small firms are to face fewer record-keeping and reporting duties.

Companies have a lot of paperwork with public offices. The Greens want to make this easier. Companies should handle everything through one website. Small firms should have fewer forms to fill out.

The Greens want to support social enterprises, cooperatives, sharing projects and similar models with advice and assistance. State-owned companies are to draw up a common-good balance sheet in a pilot project. In the program's view, today's economic model exceeds ecological and social limits.

The Greens want to strengthen firms that serve the common good. Common good means: it benefits everyone. This includes cooperatives and social enterprises. State-owned companies should test how to measure what they do for the common good.

The Greens want to change the Sparkassengesetz (savings banks law) so that the public savings banks can do more to finance the ecological and digital transition in municipalities and mid-sized firms, and to fund start-ups. Their own investments and their investment advice should follow ESG criteria.

Savings banks are important banks in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Greens want to change the law for them. The banks should be able to give more money to green projects and young companies. They should invest money by rules for the environment and social issues.

The Greens want to strengthen the state-owned development bank NRW.BANK and add a funding goal of transformation to its mandate. Its business model and funding strategy would be aligned with sustainability and with the recommendations of the federal government's Sustainable Finance Advisory Committee.

NRW.BANK belongs to the state. It gives money to companies, towns and housing. The Greens want the bank to mainly support the change toward more environmental protection. It should become the greenest development bank in Germany.

The Greens want municipalities to look beyond price when awarding public contracts. Environmental and social criteria should also count when choosing a bid. The legal rules are to be changed accordingly.

Cities buy many things and award contracts. So far, low cost matters most. The Greens want the environment and social issues to count too. They want to change the rules for this.

The Greens consider the federal supply chain law passed in 2021 inadequate because, in their view, it contains too many exemptions. Until a stricter law exists, they want NRW to pass a new law on collective wage compliance and public procurement that ties public purchasing to social and ecological criteria.

The Greens think the 2021 supply chain law is too weak. A supply chain law is meant to protect workers and nature in other countries too. So NRW should get a new law for public contracts. The state should only buy under social and green rules. Cities and towns should get help with this.

The Greens want to tie state subsidies to collectively agreed or equivalent working conditions and to a benefit for the climate. Workers from fossil fuel industries are to find new, comparable jobs and get support for retraining.

Climate protection creates many new jobs. This work should be paid fairly. Companies should get state money only if working conditions are good. Some people lose their jobs in coal. They should get help to learn new jobs.

The Greens want stricter enforcement of existing protections for truck drivers and want to hold large logistics companies responsible for their subcontractors. According to the program, the sector's growth has come at the expense of its workers.

Drivers and couriers often work under poor conditions. The Greens want better checks on rest-time rules. Big companies should also answer for their subcontractors. A subcontractor is a firm that does jobs for another firm.

The Greens want to expand working from home in the public sector and promote co-working spaces close to where people live, especially in rural areas. The program argues this makes work more flexible, saves space and cuts commuting. Employee co-determination is to be adapted to the new world of work.

Many people work from home today. The Greens want to make this possible more often in public service. Shared offices should be set up in rural areas. Then fewer people have to travel far to work.

The Greens want to tackle child poverty with a dedicated pact, arguing that an especially large number of minors in NRW are affected. Local prevention chains would be expanded statewide so that support on the ground is coordinated.

Many children in NRW are poor. The Greens want a pact against child poverty. Professionals in each town should work together better. That way children get the right help.

The Greens want to better reach teenagers and young adults living in poverty, since not all of them seek out government offices on their own. Street work, youth vocational assistance and youth residences would be expanded.

Poor young people need help that comes to them. The Greens want more street work in affected neighborhoods. There should be more job counseling. There should also be more residences for young people.

The Greens want to improve debt counseling and make it free of charge, partly in response to the fallout from the COVID crisis. The split in responsibility between municipalities and the state for debt and insolvency counseling would end.

Many people are in debt. The Greens want better counseling for them. The counseling should be free. Right now, towns and the state handle different parts. That should change.

The Greens want to support people with poor prospects in the regular job market through the so-called social labor market. Centers and counseling services for unemployed people would keep receiving state funding.

Some people have a hard time finding a job. The Greens want to help them with subsidized jobs. This is called the social labor market. Advice centers for jobless people will keep getting money.

The Greens aim for a labor market where people with and without disabilities can work together. Public contracts would go only to companies that meet their legal duty to employ severely disabled people, and sheltered workshops would pay more fairly.

People with disabilities have a harder time finding work. The Greens want to change that. Companies only get government contracts if they employ enough people with severe disabilities. Sheltered workshops should pay fair wages.

The Greens want to tie public contracts to social and environmental standards such as coverage by collective wage agreements. In addition, workplace safety enforcement would get more money and staff, and Sundays would generally stay work-free.

The state gives contracts to companies. The Greens want stricter rules for this. Companies should pay union-negotiated wages. Workplace safety checks will get more staff. Sunday should usually be a day off.

The Greens want work and personal circumstances to fit together better. To that end, they would promote lifetime working-time accounts, working from home, co-working spaces close to home, and part-time vocational training and university study.

Work should fit better with people's lives. The Greens want accounts that track working time over a whole career. Then people can work less in some years. For example, when they care for relatives. Working from home should also get easier.

The Greens want to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities consistently in NRW. Accessibility is to be planned into construction from the start, and people with disabilities should gain easier access to work, volunteering and public administration.

The Greens want more participation for people with disabilities. New public buildings and homes should have no barriers. Public offices should give information in easy language and sign language. Companies should find it easier to hire people with disabilities.

The Greens distinguish between sex work and human trafficking for sexual exploitation, which they want to combat. Sex workers are to have safe working conditions, social security coverage and reliable counseling services.

The Greens separate sex work from human trafficking. They want to fight human trafficking. Sex workers should be able to work safely. They should have health insurance. Advice centers should help them, also if they want to quit.

The Greens want all of the state's fiscal decisions to be measured against the 1.5-degree target and their social consequences. A climate check for state spending would be introduced, and the state's investments would remain geared to sustainability.

The state spends a lot of money. The Greens want to check every expense: Is it good for the climate? They call this a climate check. The state's invested money should not harm the climate either.

The Greens want a "green pact for the future" to invest considerably more in public infrastructure. To pay for it, they would use the leeway in the debt brake and create financing channels outside the state budget.

Schools, roads, and networks need a lot of money. The Greens want to invest more in them. The debt brake limits new debt. The Greens want to use the exceptions it allows. They also want new sources of money outside the budget.

The Greens want to create a legacy debt fund that helps cities and towns pay down their debts. This is meant to let municipalities invest on their own again in education, childcare, transportation, and infrastructure.

Many cities and towns have large debts. The Greens want to help them with a fund. A fund is a pot of money for a set purpose. Then towns can spend money on their own again. For example, on schools and bike paths.

The Greens want to stop municipalities from luring businesses away from each other with low local business tax rates. Instead, cities and towns should cooperate and be able to collect the Gewerbesteuer (local business tax) jointly. Municipal funding programs are also to be simplified.

Some cities cut taxes to attract companies. The Greens want to make this unattractive. Cities should work together instead. Applying for state funding should also get easier for cities.

The Greens want to step up the fight against tax evasion and tax fraud. The tax administration and tax investigation units are to get more staff and better digital technology. The platform justifies this with money it says is missing for schools and investment.

Some people and companies do not pay their taxes. The Greens want to pursue this more strongly. Tax offices should get more staff and better technology. The money should then go to schools.

The Greens want to change the state building code so municipalities can set ecological requirements and built-up land is used better. Gravel gardens and large surface parking lots are to become a thing of the past.

The Greens want to change the state's building rules. Cities should be allowed to make rules for green building. Apartments should be possible above supermarkets. Large concrete parking lots should no longer be built.

With a new state building code, the Greens want to shift the construction sector to climate-neutral methods and recyclable materials within ten years. Solar panels are to become standard on new and renovated roofs. The program justifies this with the long lifespan of buildings and their effects on climate and health.

Buildings stand for many decades. So the Greens want new rules for construction. In ten years, all building should be climate-friendly. New and renovated roofs should get solar panels.

The Greens want to use every option under state law to limit rent increases in existing affordable housing. The Mietpreisbremse (rent brake) and the cap on rent increases would be extended, and conversions into condominiums restricted in tight markets.

Housing is expensive in many cities. The Greens want to protect renters better. Rents should not be allowed to rise so fast. Rental apartments should less often be turned into condos.

The Greens want to provide more subsidies for affordable housing and create considerably more such homes each year. Public land would no longer go to the highest bidder, and socially just land use would become a state objective in the state constitution.

The Greens want more affordable homes to be built. There should be more public funding for this. Public land should no longer go to whoever pays the most. New homes should be climate-neutral and barrier-free.

The Greens want to help municipalities redesign neighborhoods so that people of all generations can live there independently. A single funding program called "Quartier inklusiv" (inclusive neighborhood) is planned for this.

The Greens want neighborhoods for young and old. There should be green spaces, shops and meeting places nearby. Paths and homes should be barrier-free. A funding program for towns and cities would pay for this.

The Greens want to tackle homelessness with a statewide action plan and expand the "Housing First" approach across North Rhine-Westphalia. Homeless people would get a regular apartment without preconditions, plus personal support.

Some people have no home. The Greens want to give them an apartment first. This is called "Housing First." They also get personal help. Cities and towns will get money and support for this.

The Greens want to give proven projects in open youth work and youth associations a permanent footing. These services should be open to all young people without discrimination or barriers, because the party regards youth work as a necessary rather than an optional service.

Youth clubs and youth groups matter for young people. The Greens want to pay for good projects on a lasting basis. All children and young people should be able to join in. This includes children with disabilities. The state should provide money for this.

The Greens want to help more daycare centers become family centers and to turn primary schools into points of contact for families as well. Parents should find exchange, advice and easily accessible help there, including after the daycare years.

A family center is a place where parents get advice and help. The Greens want more daycare centers to become family centers. Primary schools should become such places too. Advice services for families should be strengthened.

The Greens want to fund municipal time offices that better match childcare hours, bus schedules and other routines to families' daily lives. They also plan a network of family-friendly companies and want public administration to become family-friendly.

Many families have too little time in daily life. The Greens want to fund time offices in towns. These offices check what childcare hours families need. Bus schedules should also fit better. Companies and public offices should become more family-friendly.

The Greens want to expand childcare in the early morning and evening and make emergency care available. Single parents would also get one-stop help with official paperwork and access to rest and recovery programs, since the platform says they depend especially on reliable infrastructure.

Some parents raise their children alone. The Greens want to help them more. There should be more childcare early in the morning and in the evening. In an emergency, someone should look after the siblings. Advice centers should help with paperwork.

The Greens want a state initiative to create more safe outdoor play spaces, arguing that children need exercise and fresh air. Municipalities would be able to preserve play areas and make them accessible.

Children need space to play outside. The Greens want to give towns money for this. Playgrounds should stay and become barrier-free. Children should have a say in the planning.

The Greens want the same professional and staffing standards in youth welfare services statewide, and permanent local child protection networks. An independent state commissioner for child protection and children's rights would be created. The platform cites the failures uncovered by the parliamentary inquiry into the Lügde abuse case.

The Greens want to protect children better from violence. The same rules for youth welfare should apply everywhere in NRW. An independent person should look after child protection for the state. Police and courts should get better at dealing with children.

The Greens want to establish education for sustainable development firmly across all areas of education, from daycare to senior universities. More people are to gain knowledge about protecting the environment, nature and the climate.

The Greens want everyone to learn more about nature and the climate. The topic should be part of daycare, schools and universities. Older people should be able to learn about it too. A statewide network is planned for this.

The Greens want to work with guilds and chambers to attract more people to the skilled trades. The drive covers stronger dual vocational training, new target groups, better paths for advancement and easier access for skilled workers from abroad. The background is that many master craftspeople and journeymen will soon retire.

The skilled trades need more young people. The Greens want to improve training. Apprentices should pay less for buses and trains and get dorms. The state should pay for master craftsman training like a university degree. Tradespeople from abroad should find it easier to work here.

The Greens want to tackle the shortage of skilled workers with a broad training drive. Fees for vocational training and the master craftsman certificate are to be lowered first and then phased out. Barriers for groups that have been hard to reach are to be removed, with a special focus on asylum seekers.

Many jobs lack skilled workers. The Greens want to train more people. Vocational training and the master certificate should step by step become free. Asylum seekers should be able to start training early. Degrees from abroad should be accepted more easily.

The Greens want to offer every child from age one a good place in a Kita (daycare center) or with a childminder. To do so, capacity would be expanded and staffing needs recalculated according to scientific standards.

Every child from age one should get a good daycare place. The Greens want to create more places. They want to set new rules on how many children one staff member looks after. Extra workers should help with office work and the kitchen.

The Greens want lunch in daycare centers and childminding to be free of charge and want to improve the quality of early childhood education. Centers in disadvantaged neighborhoods would get extra support so that educational opportunities are fairer from the start.

Lunch at daycare should no longer cost parents anything. Daycare centers in poorer areas should get more help. Children should have a say at daycare. The Greens also want more support for language, exercise and healthy food.

The Greens want to recruit considerably more early childhood educators by expanding training and university places and opening new routes into the profession. Working conditions and pay should reflect the responsibility the job carries.

Daycare centers lack trained staff. The Greens want to train more people for the job. People from other jobs should be able to switch to daycare work more easily. More men should become educators. Centers that train people should get more money.

The Greens want to help cities and towns renovate and modernize their school buildings. The state would not only provide loans but also help repay them. Cooperation between the federal government and the states in education would also be used for investment and additional staff.

Many school buildings need repairs. The Greens want to help cities and towns with this. The state should also help pay back the loans. The federal government and the state should work together more on schools.

The Greens want to give schools more leeway in how they teach. This includes project-based learning, alternatives to grades and more say over staffing. The stated reason is that schools know best what their students need.

Schools should be able to decide more on their own. For example, they could teach more through projects. They could also use other ways of rating work than grades. The Greens say schools know what their children need.

The Greens want digital learning to become routine at every school in North Rhine-Westphalia. All students and teachers would receive mobile devices. A five-year training drive would prepare school staff for new media.

All students and teachers should get a mobile device, such as a tablet. Learning with digital media should be normal everywhere. Teachers should get training for this. The training should run for five years.

The Greens want schools to put more weight on politics, social science and society. They would add priorities in education for sustainable development and anti-discrimination. In the platform's view, schools should strengthen democracy and help protect the environment and climate.

School should deal more with politics and society. Children should also learn more about the environment and sustainability. The Greens want this to strengthen democracy. They also want to support languages and student exchanges.

The Greens want to tackle the teacher shortage with a reform of teacher training, more routes to qualification and additional professions in schools. All teaching tracks would start at pay grade A13. Teachers would have less administrative work so that more time is left for teaching.

Many schools do not have enough teachers. The Greens want to change how teachers are trained. Other experts should also work in schools, such as social workers. All teachers should earn the same starting pay.

The Greens want to create 200,000 additional all-day school places and double funding per place to 4,000 euros. This is meant to prepare North Rhine-Westphalia for the legal entitlement in elementary school that takes effect in 2026. Binding quality standards for all-day schooling would also be set.

There are too few all-day places at elementary schools in the state. The Greens want to create 200,000 new places. Each place should get twice as much money as now. From 2026, children have a right to a place.

The Greens state the goal of making education free of fees for everyone. As an interim step, uniform statewide parent fees graded by income would apply to daycare centers, family daycare and open all-day schools, with an exemption for low earners. Free learning materials would also cover digital materials.

Education should later be free for everyone. First, parent fees should follow the same rules across the state. People who earn little should pay nothing. Digital learning materials should also be free.

The Greens want to allocate money and positions for schools according to need. A social index for each individual school would determine where additional teachers, social workers and funds go. Schools in difficult locations would receive more as a result.

Not all schools should get the same amount of money. Schools with many problems should get more. A social index should show this. It is a number that describes each school's situation.

The Greens see inclusion as a human right and a task for every type of school, guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Moving students down to a lower school type and making them repeat a grade against their will would end. Schools would get more staff, money and barrier-free spaces for this.

Children with and without disabilities should learn together. This should be possible at all schools. No child should have to repeat a grade against their will. Schools should get more staff and money for this.

The Greens want to guarantee every young person vocational training leading to a full qualification. A fund paid into by all companies would spread the cost of training. Training places outside companies would be expanded.

Every young person should be able to do vocational training. The Greens want to guarantee this. All companies should pay into a shared fund. That way, companies without trainees also carry part of the cost.

The Greens want to make it easier for trainees to move for their training. Shared dorms for learners would be built, and public transit passes for trainees would be put on par with those for university students. Trainees with insecure residence status would be protected from deportation.

Trainees should find it easier to move to another city. There should be dorms for trainees and students. The trainee transit pass should be as good as the student pass. Trainees without a secure right to stay should not be deported.

The Greens want everyone to be able to catch up on a school diploma or vocational training. Second-chance education would be strengthened, vocational colleges developed into regional centers, and continuing education permanently funded with rising budgets. For the skilled trades, a reform of master craftsman training and start-up bonuses are planned.

Adults should be able to get a school diploma later in life. There should be more courses for this, for example at adult education centers. Continuing education should get more money for the long term. It should be easier for tradespeople to become master craftsmen.

The Greens want to support first-year students in financial need with up to 1,000 euros. The Studierendenwerke (student services organizations) would get higher subsidies, including for building and renovating housing. In the party's view, the state is responsible for ensuring that university study does not fail because of financial or social barriers.

Students with little money should get up to 1,000 euros at the start. There should be more housing for students. The student services organizations should get more money for this. Semester fees should be affordable.

The Greens want to remove barriers to higher education so that everyone can study regardless of money, disability or life situation. Among other things, the state would cover the cost of materials for financially disadvantaged students and expand part-time degree programs.

The Greens want everyone to be able to study. Students with little money should get required study materials paid for. There should be more part-time degree programs. Students with disabilities should get more help.

The Greens want to improve university teaching and make it more inclusive. Attendance requirements would be dropped, the student-to-staff ratio would improve markedly, and the academic senate would gain weight relative to the university council and rectorate.

The Greens want better teaching at universities. Students should no longer be required to attend classes. There should be more teachers per student. The university senate should have more say.

The Greens want to improve working conditions at universities, which they see as a precondition for good teaching and research. The core elements are permanent posts for permanent tasks, reliable qualification paths and stronger co-determination.

The Greens want better jobs at universities. People doing ongoing work should get permanent jobs. Careers in science should be easier to plan. Staff and students should have more say.

The Greens want to fund research from North Rhine-Westphalia better, arguing that it provides answers on social problems, conflicts and climate protection. The focus is on the institutes of the Johannes-Rau-Forschungsgemeinschaft and on universities of applied sciences.

The Greens want to spend more money on research in NRW. Universities of applied sciences should be able to do more research. Professors there should have to teach less. There should also be more jobs.

The Greens want to put the civil clause back into law so that publicly funded research stays transparent and serves peaceful purposes. Peace and conflict research would receive permanent funding.

The Greens want to bring back the civil clause. This is a rule: research paid for with public money should serve peace. Research on peace and conflict should get lasting funding.

The Greens want students to be free from the start to choose whether to attend denominational religious education. Practical philosophy is to be offered everywhere as an alternative, and Islamic religious education is supported.

Children should be free to choose from first grade on. They should be able to take religion or practical philosophy. The Greens also support Islamic religion classes. Teachers for these classes should study in NRW. Later, the religions should teach together.

The Greens want to secure medical care, especially in rural areas, through "health regions" in which outpatient and inpatient services are planned together. They reject further hospital privatization and want to return hospitals to public ownership where possible.

Rural areas often lack doctors and hospitals. The Greens want to set up health regions. There, doctors' offices and hospitals plan together. Hospitals should no longer be sold to private companies. In an emergency, everyone should reach a hospital quickly.

The Greens want to strengthen local health departments with more money, a separate pay scale for medical staff, and better digital equipment. They also want to improve prevention and pandemic preparedness.

The Greens say health departments have too little money and staff. They want to give them more money. Doctors there should get their own pay scale. The state should prepare better for pandemics. Prevention should also matter more.

The Greens want to implement the recommendations of the state psychiatry plan. These include more outpatient crisis support, shorter waits for therapy, and fewer involuntary commitments.

People with mental illness need help quickly. The Greens want to offer more help in a crisis. People should not wait so long for therapy. Fewer people should be put in a clinic against their will.

The Greens want to secure access to medical care for people without health insurance, such as refugees, homeless people, and undocumented people, through an anonymous health voucher. For people with disabilities, an inclusion plan would reduce barriers in the health system.

Some people have no health insurance. For example, people without papers or homeless people. The Greens want to bring in an anonymous health voucher. With it, people can see a doctor without giving their name. People with disabilities should also get better care.

The Greens want health care to take gender into account, strengthen maternity care, and make abortion available close to home. In the platform's view, medicine has so far been geared too much to the male body.

The Greens say medicine often looks mainly at men. They want studies to look at women and men separately. Midwives should get more support. Women should be able to end a pregnancy near where they live.

In long-term care, the Greens favor shared housing and outpatient services in the neighborhood over more large nursing homes. They expect the federal government to deliver a "double care guarantee" with capped out-of-pocket costs, and they want to strengthen staffing and training.

Many older people do not want to live in a large home. The Greens want more care in people's own neighborhoods. Care should stay affordable. So there should be a limit on what people pay themselves. Care insurance pays the rest. There should be more care workers.

The Greens consider cannabis prohibition unsuitable and want to move quickly on regulated sales to adults in NRW as soon as federal law allows. Addiction counseling, drop-in centers, and supervised consumption rooms would continue to be funded.

The Greens think the ban on cannabis is wrong. Adults should be able to buy cannabis in controlled shops. First the federal government must change the law. Addiction advice centers will keep getting money. Children and teens should get special protection.

The Greens want to give EU citizens the right to vote in state elections and give long-term residents from non-EU countries the right to vote in local elections. The party also wants to actively promote naturalization and make public institutions more accessible in terms of language.

The Greens want more people to be allowed to vote. People from other EU countries should vote in state elections. People from other countries should vote in their town if they have lived here long. The state should encourage people to become citizens. Public offices should offer more languages and easy-to-read language.

The Greens want to set up a state-level admission program for refugees in particular emergencies. It is meant to back the willingness of many NRW municipalities to take people in; in the party's view, European asylum policy should become more humane.

NRW should be able to take in refugees in need itself. The Greens want a state program for this. Many cities in NRW want to help. The state should work with them. The Greens also support rescuing people in distress at sea.

The Greens reject long stays in state-run accommodation and consider the central accommodation facilities (ZUE) a failure. Refugees are to live in smaller, decentralized housing, with better health care and more money for municipalities.

Refugees should not live in large shelters for long. The Greens want small housing units in many places. People have more peace and privacy there. Children from state shelters should go to regular schools. Cities should get more money for taking people in.

The Greens want to open language courses and integration services to all refugees right away, whatever their status. Immigration offices are to become “welcome authorities” that promote participation and access to the labor market.

All refugees should be able to take language courses right away. This should apply to everyone, whatever their residence status. There should be more childcare during the courses. Immigration offices should help people settle in. They should open ways for tolerated people to stay.

The Greens want deportations to be used only as a last resort and to abolish detention pending deportation in the longer term. They reject on principle deportations to countries at war or in crisis such as Afghanistan and Syria.

The Greens want deportations only as a last step. Detention before deportation should end in the future. Until then, milder measures should be used. No one should be deported to war countries like Afghanistan or Syria. Asylum procedures should be faster and fair.

The Greens want to set aside part of the money in all of the state's business support programs exclusively for women and disadvantaged groups. According to the program, these groups face higher hurdles in reaching leadership positions and starting companies.

Women and some groups have a harder time in business. So the Greens want to set aside money only for them. This should apply in all state support programs. They can still apply for the other funds too.

The Greens want lasting funding for queer youth work and long-term backing for queer centers in the state funding plan. The party sees them as points of contact for queer people across the regions.

Queer people are, for example, lesbian, gay or trans. The Greens want to pay for youth centers for queer young people on a lasting basis. There should also be such meeting places in the countryside.

The Greens want to permanently guarantee a state coordination office for rainbow families and staff it adequately. Training for employees in public agencies and counseling centers would be coordinated, because in the party's view such families still face exclusion.

In rainbow families, the parents are lesbian, gay or trans, for example. The Greens want a permanent state office for these families. They should get good advice there. Staff in public offices should learn more about these families.

The Greens want to make democracy education and anti-racism awareness work mandatory in the state's schools. Curricula and textbooks would deal more with colonial history, social diversity and critical use of social media. Teaching would also counter discrimination against gender and sexual minorities.

Schools should do more against racism and exclusion. This should be part of lesson plans and textbooks. Teachers should get regular training on it. People with a different sexual orientation should also be better protected.

The Greens want to create a state anti-discrimination law and a state anti-discrimination agency. People should be able to report unequal treatment by state institutions such as schools or the police and take legal action against it.

The Greens want a new law against discrimination. Discrimination means: someone is treated worse, for example because of their origin. People affected should be able to defend themselves better. Associations should be allowed to sue on their behalf. There should be more advice centers.

The Greens see the state as obliged to protect both the freedom to practice a faith and the freedom not to. Islamic communities are to be recognized if they meet the legal conditions, and Jewish life is to become more visible.

Everyone may live their faith or have no faith. The state should protect that. Islamic communities should be recognized if they meet the rules. The Greens want imams to be trained in NRW. They want to act against hatred of Jews.

The Greens want women to hold half of political power. A parity law is meant to ensure more women candidates in the 2027 state election, committees are to be at least half women, and the budget is to be assessed for its effects on the sexes.

The Greens want a parity law. That means: parties should put up more women for election. This should apply from the 2027 state election. At least half of committee members should be women. The state should check whether its money benefits women and men equally.

The Greens want women to receive equal pay for work of equal value, to be economically independent and to be secure in old age. Nursing and childcare professions are to be upgraded and childcare expanded.

Women should get the same pay for the same work. Jobs in nursing and childcare should be paid better. Mostly women work in these jobs. There should be more and better childcare places. That makes it easier to combine work and family.

The Greens want queer people in NRW to be able to live self-determined lives without exclusion. To that end, the action plan for queer life is to be developed further, counseling services expanded and hate crime tackled in a targeted way.

Queer people should be able to live without fear. Queer includes lesbian, gay and trans people, for example. The Greens want more counseling, also outside big cities. The police should take training on the topic. Victims of past persecution should receive compensation.

The Greens want long-term funding for women's shelters, counseling centers, and hotlines, and want to develop the support system further. It is to become more accessible and better reach children, genderqueer people, trans women, and male victims. Police and courts would prioritize violence against women and queer people.

The Greens want to protect women better from violence. Women's shelters and counseling centers should get steady funding. Children, queer people and men should also find the right help. Police and courts should handle these crimes faster.

The Greens want North Rhine-Westphalia to become climate neutral before 2040 if possible and to get onto the 1.5-degree path of the Paris Agreement. An immediate action program and a new climate protection law with annual targets for every sector are meant to start this.

The Greens want NRW to be climate neutral before 2040. Climate neutral means the state no longer harms the climate. An immediate program should start the work. A new law should set yearly goals for every sector. Experts should check whether the goals are met.

The Greens want to give cities and towns more money and staff for climate protection and climate adaptation. The platform treats municipal climate planning as part of basic public services and therefore wants binding standards.

Cities and towns should get more money for climate protection. They should also get more staff for it. The state should set fixed rules for climate plans. Every town should make a local climate plan.

The Greens want to introduce a climate proviso for new state laws and funding programs. For every law, the effect on greenhouse gas emissions and its fit with climate targets is to be calculated; state money is not to worsen the climate crisis.

The Greens want to check every new law for its effect on the climate. Experts calculate how much greenhouse gas the law causes. State funding programs get the same check. The state should not pay for things that harm the climate.

The Greens want to quickly present a climate adaptation strategy with measurable targets. Cities are to be cooled with more greenery and water surfaces and rebuilt along the "sponge city" model; state funding for this is to grow.

The climate is getting warmer, and heavy rain is more common. The Greens want to prepare NRW for this. Cities should get more trees, plants and water. The ground should soak up more rain. This is called a sponge city. The state should give towns more money for this.

The Greens want NRW's electricity supply to be 80 percent renewable by 2030 and fully renewable by 2035. Storage, flexible demand, grid expansion and green hydrogen are meant to secure supply, on which the platform says the industrial base also depends.

By 2035, all electricity in NRW should come from wind and sun. By 2030, it should already be 80 percent. This needs many more wind turbines and solar panels. Power storage and new lines should keep the supply safe.

The Greens want to end lignite mining in NRW by 2030 at the latest and adopt a new Leitentscheidung (state guiding decision on mining) right away. All villages in the Rhenish mining area are to be preserved, and a moratorium is to stop demolitions and tree clearing.

The Greens want to stop using coal by 2030. The state should make a new decision on this right away. All villages near the mines should stay. Nobody should tear down more houses or cut more trees there. Coal workers should get honest plans.

The Greens want to abolish forced resettlement and expropriation for the mining of coal, sand and gravel. Homes are to stay at least 1,000 meters from the open-pit mine, and people already resettled are to be able to buy back their former properties.

Nobody should have to move because of coal, sand or gravel. Nobody should lose their land for it. The mine should stay 1,000 meters away from homes. People who already had to move should be allowed to buy back their house. Villagers should have a say.

The Greens want to speed up structural change in the coal regions and keep the energy company RWE responsible for land restoration and the perpetual follow-up costs of lignite mining. Hambach Forest is to be transferred to public ownership and protected.

The company RWE mines lignite coal in NRW. The Greens want RWE to pay for the damage. RWE should restore the landscape. Unused RWE land should go into a fund. Hambach Forest should belong to the public and be protected.

The Greens want solar panels to become the norm on buildings, starting with public buildings and new construction and later extending to existing ones. They also want to open up land along highways and rail lines, as well as already sealed surfaces, for solar parks. According to the platform, rooftops in North Rhine-Westphalia could generate about half of today's electricity consumption.

The Greens want many more solar panels. Panels should be normal on public buildings and new houses. Later they should also go on older houses. Solar parks should be built next to highways and rail lines. Parking lots and landfills should be used too.

The Greens want to make at least 200 new wind turbines possible each year and reserve 2 percent of the state's land for wind power. Fixed minimum distances from homes would be abolished again for that purpose. The platform regards wind, together with photovoltaics, as the foundation of the energy transition and climate protection.

The Greens want more wind turbines in the state. At least 200 new ones should be possible each year. 2 percent of the state's land should be set aside for this. Fixed distances from homes should go away. Birds and bats should still be protected.

The Greens want to back citizen-owned energy projects with a new fund for project development. The state's funding program for tenant electricity would be relaunched. The platform says this would let as many people as possible benefit from cheap energy.

Citizens should be able to run wind and solar parks themselves. The Greens want a new fund for this. Renters should also get power from their own roof. The state should support such projects again.

The Greens want to renovate three times as many buildings per year for energy efficiency as today and require a minimum share of renewable energy when heating systems are replaced, including in existing buildings. All state-owned buildings would be renovated by 2030. In the platform's view, the current pace is not enough to heat buildings climate-neutrally within 20 years.

The Greens want to insulate and modernize many more buildings. This should go three times as fast as today. New heating systems should run partly on renewable energy. That applies to older houses too. The state should renovate its own buildings by 2030.

The Greens want to give low-income households more support for energy-efficient renovation and split renovation costs for rental buildings among landlords, tenants and the state. Revenue from carbon pricing should flow back to people as directly as possible. The platform argues that rent increases after renovations are often higher than the energy savings.

The Greens want the costs of clean heating shared fairly. People with little money should get more support. For rental buildings, landlords, renters and the state should share the costs. Money from the carbon price should go back to the people.

The Greens want to use natural gas only as far as needed for a secure supply during the transition. New gas plants and pipelines would be allowed only if they can later run on climate-neutral gases such as hydrogen. The platform names biogas from residues and geothermal energy as alternatives.

The Greens want to use little natural gas. Gas should only be for a transition period. New gas plants must be able to run on hydrogen later. The same goes for new pipelines. Biogas should come from manure and waste. Heat from the ground should be used too.

The Greens want to close the uranium enrichment plant in Gronau as quickly as possible. In the platform's view, the nuclear phase-out is not yet complete in North Rhine-Westphalia. The party also pushes for shutting down nuclear plants near the border in neighboring countries.

There is a uranium plant in Gronau. Uranium is the fuel for nuclear power plants. The Greens want to close this plant quickly. Nuclear plants near the border should also be shut down. There should be one plan for nuclear waste for all of Germany.

The Greens want to resolve conflicts between climate-related infrastructure and species protection through clear rules and to speed up planning procedures. Two percent of the state's area is to be used for new wind turbines. Areas with core populations of sensitive species are to be excluded from the outset.

The Greens want to build more wind turbines. Two percent of the state's land should be available for this. Turbines should not stand where many sensitive animals live. Offices and courts should get more staff. This should make planning faster.

The Greens want to develop NRW into a leading technology hub for green hydrogen. Because this hydrogen will stay scarce, it is to be used only where no alternative exists. Networks and import routes are to be expanded quickly.

The Greens want more green hydrogen in NRW. Green hydrogen is made with green electricity. There is not much of it. So industry should get it first. The state should build pipelines for hydrogen.

The Greens want to put the chemical industry on a course in line with the 1.5-degree target. To do so, electricity in NRW is to come entirely from renewable sources by 2035. More recycling and a move away from fossil raw materials are also meant to change the sector.

The Greens want to make the chemical industry climate-friendly. By 2035, all electricity should come from wind and sun. Companies should recycle more materials. A new institute should do research on this.

The Greens want universities to lead by example on climate protection and plan a program for climate-neutral science by 2035. It includes renovating buildings and more sustainability in teaching and research.

The Greens want climate-neutral universities by 2035. Climate-neutral means the universities no longer harm the climate. Buildings would be renovated for this. Degree programs should also cover more about sustainability.

The Greens want NRW to become climate neutral before 2040 if possible, a goal they derive from the European Green Deal. The UN Sustainable Development Goals are to be anchored in every state ministry, and bills and public contracts are to undergo a mandatory check for social and ecological standards. The party rejects the trade agreements CETA and Mercosur in their current form.

The Greens want NRW to be climate neutral before 2040 if possible. Climate neutral means the state no longer harms the climate. New laws should get a sustainability check. This check looks at whether they are good for people and nature. The Greens reject the trade deals CETA and Mercosur as they are now. Companies should reuse raw materials more often.

The Greens want to implement the demands of the Volksinitiative Artenvielfalt (citizens' initiative on biodiversity), signed by 115,000 people. The state's biodiversity strategy is to be updated and backed by a state program with concrete measures. The program justifies this with the ongoing loss of species and habitats.

Many animal and plant species are in danger. In the state, 115,000 people signed a petition for more species protection. The Greens want to carry out these demands. A new state program is meant to do this.

The Greens want to limit the sealing of new land and write the target back into the state development plan. Daily land use is to fall first to 5 hectares and to net zero by 2035. The plan includes a levy on soil sealing and a program to unseal land.

Every day, more than 8 hectares of land in the state are newly built on. The Greens want to limit this to 5 hectares first. By 2035, no additional land should be used up on balance. Anyone who seals soil should pay a levy.

The Greens want to build a statewide habitat network and make the Senne the state's second national park. Pesticides and mineral fertilizer are to be banned in protected areas. The aim is to reconnect fragmented habitats and give endangered species more refuge.

Roads and towns cut animal habitats apart. The Greens want to connect these habitats across the state. The Senne area should become a national park. Pesticides should be banned in protected areas. Pesticides are poisons against pests and weeds.

The Greens want to protect biodiversity in cities too, by making better use of existing building land and preserving green spaces. Gravel gardens are to be ruled out through the state building code, and pesticides are no longer to be used outside agriculture. Rules against light pollution are also planned in state law.

Animals and plants should have room in cities too. The Greens do not want to build on green spaces. Gravel gardens should no longer be allowed. Gardens and parks should be free of pesticides. At night, fewer lights should be on where they are not needed.

The Greens want to give wolves habitat in North Rhine-Westphalia while securing livestock grazing. The state is to manage the wolf population so that sheep farms and other livestock keepers can stay in business.

Wolves live in the state again. The Greens want them to have room here. Sheep and other grazing animals should still be safe. The state should help farmers protect their animals.

The Greens want to give environmental authorities more money and staff so that environmental laws are actually enforced. The former task force on environmental crime is to return, and a specialized public prosecutor's office is to investigate statewide.

The Greens want environmental laws to be followed better. Environmental offices should get more money and more staff. A special prosecutor's office should pursue crimes against the environment. People should be able to report problems to an independent office.

The Greens want to bring state-owned natural areas together in an independent foundation and thereby protect them from privatization. By buying and exchanging land, a permanently protected habitat network open to everyone is to be created.

The state owns many natural areas. The Greens want to put them into a foundation. That way no one can sell them to private owners. The foundation should buy more land. Everyone should be able to visit nature there.

The Greens want to steer forestry in the state toward near-natural, species-rich permanent forests, on public and private land alike. The forestry act is to be expanded into a state forest act. The program cites forests' role as carbon sinks and water stores and the strain the climate crisis puts on them.

Forests store carbon and water. The Greens want to protect forests better. Forests should have many different kinds of trees. A new forest law should set the rules. Forest owners should get money and advice for this.

The Greens want to reduce nitrate, pesticides, drug residues and microplastics entering water bodies. Manufacturers are to share the costs of water treatment through a polluter fund and a reformed wastewater levy. The party rejects natural gas extraction and fracking, also for reasons of drinking water protection.

The Greens want clean drinking water. Harmful substances should not get into the water. Those who pollute water should help pay for cleaning it. The Greens reject fracking. Public squares should offer free drinking water.

The Greens want to revise the state water act and again give drinking water protection priority over the interests of the limestone, cement and gravel industries. Extraction of raw materials in water protection areas is to be banned once more. Rivers and streams are to become more natural, also as a precaution against flooding.

The Greens want to change the state's water law. No one should be allowed to dig gravel or limestone in water protection areas. Rivers and streams should flow more naturally again. They should get more room. This should also protect against floods.

The Greens want to enforce air pollution limits consistently and expand the monitoring network in North Rhine-Westphalia. The platform argues that exceeding limits endangers health and should be fixed before lawsuits arise.

The Greens want cleaner air. Pollution limits should apply everywhere. There should be more measuring stations. Air should also be measured at airports and in residential areas.

The Greens want to cap animal transports to and from North Rhine-Westphalia at four hours and end live transports to non-EU countries. In slaughterhouses, stricter checks and changed work practices are meant to improve animal welfare.

The Greens want to protect animals better. Animal transports should last 4 hours at most. Transports to countries outside the EU should stop. Slaughterhouses should get more checks and cameras.

The Greens want to put animal welfare under a single ministry, strengthen official inspections and bring back the right of animal welfare groups to sue. The platform says violations are too often uncovered by private individuals rather than authorities.

The Greens want the state to protect animals better. One ministry should be in charge of animal welfare. Offices should inspect more. Animal welfare groups should again be allowed to go to court.

The Greens want to cut animal testing significantly and end it in the long run. Pets, exotic animals and circus animals are also to be better protected, and animal shelters paid reliably.

The Greens want fewer experiments on animals. If there is another way, animal tests should be banned. Animal shelters should get steady money. Circus animals and pets should also be better protected.

The Greens want the state to do more to reuse old industrial and commercial sites. The Grundstücksfonds NRW (state land fund) would be made permanent, and funding for cleaning up contaminated sites would initially double.

The state has many old factory sites that stand empty. The Greens want to use them again. The state should give twice as much money to remove poisons from the soil. Cities should be able to buy such sites.

The Greens want NRW to become a zero-waste state by 2050 at the latest. Products are to be durable, repairable and recyclable. Companies are to receive funding, and a free organic waste bin is to become standard everywhere.

The Greens want NRW to produce no more waste by 2050. Things should last long and be easy to repair. Companies get help from the state for this. Every household should have a free bin for food and garden waste.

The Greens want to develop the state's waste management plan into a circular economy plan and revise the state circular economy act. The platform treats waste as tomorrow's raw materials. The state is to prefer resource-saving products in its own purchasing.

The Greens see waste as a raw material. The state should make a new plan for this. A law should change too. The state itself should buy products that need few raw materials. Old toxic substances in the ground should be recorded and removed.

The Greens want a new state building code that, for the first time, sets binding quotas for recycled building materials. For state construction contracts, recyclability and the use of recycled materials would become permanent tender criteria. The aim is to make North Rhine-Westphalia a leader in sustainable construction.

The Greens want builders to reuse more old material. The state building law should set fixed rules for this. When the state itself builds, it should look for recycled material. The state should also pay for research on building materials.

The Greens want to overhaul the rules for extracting gravel, sand and other rock in North Rhine-Westphalia and gradually reduce demand for new raw materials. They point to conflicts over landscape damage and groundwater and to the dangers they say the flooding in Blessem revealed.

A lot of gravel and sand is dug up in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Greens want to limit this more. Companies should get fewer new areas for digging. Old permits for gravel pits should be checked. The state should steer the planning itself.

The Greens want to charge a levy on every ton of rock extracted. It is meant to make companies and end customers share the follow-up costs and to make alternative building materials more attractive. Extraction firms would also have to submit restoration plans to get a permit.

Companies that dig up rock should pay a levy. A levy is money paid to the state. The money should be used to clean up polluted land, for example. Companies should also hand in a plan first. The plan says how they will restore nature afterward.

The Greens want to expand organic farming in North Rhine-Westphalia from just under 7 to 30 percent by 2030 and reduce livestock numbers in the medium term. Their model is ecological, small-scale farming without genetic engineering or synthetic chemical pesticides.

The Greens want more organic farming. By 2030, 30 percent of farmland should be organic. Today it is just under 7 percent. There should be fewer farm animals. Farmers should get help to switch.

The Greens want to halve pesticide use in North Rhine-Westphalia in the short term and eventually end farming's reliance on synthetic chemical products. The platform cites harm to biodiversity and human health.

The Greens want fewer pesticides on fields. The amount should quickly drop by half. Those who use pesticides should pay a levy. Farmers would get money and advice to switch.

The Greens want to steer public farm money toward farms that protect nature and animals, and to give targeted support to small farms. According to the platform, most subsidies currently go to the largest operations.

The Greens want to share out farm money differently. Farms that protect nature and animals should get more. Small farms should get special help. They should not have to give up.

The Greens want to set up centers for artisanal food processing in every county and large city and help cafeterias switch to organic and regional products. Reliable buyers are meant to give farmers planning certainty.

The Greens want more food from the region. Every area should get a center for small-scale food processing. Cafeterias should offer more organic food. They would get funding for this.

The Greens want to require retailers and producers to pass on food that is still edible and to decriminalize so-called dumpster diving. The platform points to 12 million tons of edible food thrown away in Germany each year.

A lot of good food is thrown away in Germany. The Greens want to change that. Stores and producers should have to give away edible food. People who take food from store trash bins should not be punished.

The Greens want to create a nonprofit land agency in North Rhine-Westphalia that holds land and allocates it according to public-interest criteria. This is meant to steer the use of undeveloped land for conservation, farming and forestry.

The Greens want to found a land agency. It should buy land and pass it on. The land should serve nature, farmers and forests. An independent body should oversee this.

The Greens want to lower greenhouse gas emissions from transport. A bicycle law, a climate review for road construction projects and stronger expansion of bus and rail are meant to achieve this.

Transport should harm the climate less. The Greens want a law for cycling. New roads should be checked for climate harm first. Buses and trains should get more support. Villages should be well connected too.

The Greens aim for a guarantee that everyone in the state has a reliable bus or train connection at least once an hour during the day. A solidarity-financed ticket for all of North Rhine-Westphalia would be phased in, starting with free travel for young people up to 18. According to the platform, today's 8.5 percent share of trips is not enough to meet the transport climate target.

The Greens want buses and trains to run regularly everywhere. There should be a connection at least once an hour. In big cities, every half hour. There should be one ticket for the whole state. Everyone pays for it together. Children and teens up to 18 should ride free first.

The Greens want to double per-capita investment in buses, trains, tracks and stations, reactivate rail lines and stop closing lines. New state roads would be built only in exceptional cases, and far fewer highways and federal roads would be newly built or widened. The platform wants to prioritize buses, trains, cycling and walking and puts climate protection and quality of life at the center.

The Greens want to spend much more money on buses and trains. Old rail lines should be used again. New roads should rarely be built. The money should go to broken roads, rail, bike paths and footpaths. Car-free city centers should become possible.

The Greens want to set up regional express bus lines across the state by 2025 and invest in an emission-free bus service. Climate-friendly drive systems would become mandatory in local transit plans. This is meant to speed up the transport transition in urban and rural areas.

The Greens want express buses everywhere by 2025. These buses connect towns and cities quickly. Buses should no longer produce exhaust. Cities get money for such buses. Buses should get their own lanes.

The Greens want to raise the bicycle's share of all trips from about 8 percent to at least 25 percent by 2035. An improved cycling law and a statewide network of bike highways and priority routes are planned for this. Municipalities would also get help with a strategy for pedestrian traffic.

The Greens want many more people to ride bikes. By 2035, one in four trips should be by bike. There should be a network of fast bike paths across the state. People on foot should also get safe paths without obstacles.

For cars, the Greens are betting on electric drive and want charging options everywhere within five years. Public vehicle fleets would switch to renewable drive systems by 2030 at the latest. The platform notes that rural families and businesses still depend on having their own car.

The Greens want more electric cars. In 5 years there should be charging stations everywhere. Companies with charging stations should pay less tax. Government vehicles should run without gasoline or diesel by 2030.

The Greens want to connect all modes of transport and build a single booking platform within five years. Households would get a bonus for switching to public transit or cycling. The platform expects this to give people a free choice among transport modes.

The Greens want to link buses, trains, bikes and rental vehicles better. In 5 years there should be one booking platform for everything. Stations should make changing easier. People who switch to buses, trains or bikes should get money. Buses, trains and stops should be free of barriers.

The Greens want municipalities to be able to make 30 km/h the default in built-up areas, with 50 km/h only in justified exceptions. Speed limits on highways and outside towns would be lowered. The platform cites higher accident risk and energy use at high speeds.

The Greens want cars to drive more slowly. In towns, 30 km/h should be able to be the rule. Cities decide where 50 km/h still applies. Speeds on highways and country roads should also go down. This should protect children, people on foot and cyclists.

After the pandemic, the Greens do not want a return to unlimited growth in air traffic but want to align it with the goal of climate neutrality. A sustainable air traffic plan would set the framework. The platform calls the airplane the most climate-damaging mode of transport and points to burdens on nearby residents.

The Greens do not want air travel to grow without limits. Flying should harm the climate less. Düsseldorf and Cologne-Bonn airports should blend in climate-friendly fuel. People living near airports should be better protected.

The Greens want to cut night flights and oppose any further expansion of airports in North Rhine-Westphalia. Public subsidies for airports from the state and municipalities are to end. The program cites noise protection and climate protection as reasons.

The Greens want fewer flights at night. No airport in the state should grow. The state and the cities should stop giving money to airports. Buses and trains should replace short flights.

The Greens want far more freight to move by rail and inland waterway and back the EU goal of shifting three quarters of road freight. Remaining truck traffic is to be emission-free by 2035. All suitable drive technologies are to receive support.

Today most goods travel by truck. The Greens want more goods to go by train and ship. The remaining trucks should run without emissions by 2035. The Greens want to support different drives, such as batteries and hydrogen.

The Greens want to bundle parcel delivery in cities and make it climate-neutral. City hubs are to be set up, and by 2030 every household is to have access to parcel lockers. This is meant to reduce traffic in residential areas.

More and more parcels are delivered to homes. The Greens want to build collection points for parcels in cities. From there, cargo bikes and electric vehicles should deliver them. By 2030, every household should have a parcel locker nearby.

The Greens want to use digital technology for climate protection while aligning it with climate neutrality and sustainability. Public administration is to lead with a green IT strategy, and fast internet is to be expanded only with fiber optics and 5G.

Computers and the internet should help protect the climate. But they should use little energy themselves. State offices should use climate-friendly technology. New fast internet should come only through fiber and 5G. Old devices should be recycled.

The Greens want to connect every household in NRW to fiber and 5G by 2030 at the latest. Permits are to be issued faster and the rollout is to receive targeted funding. Public facilities are to get free Wi-Fi.

Internet in NRW is often still slow. The Greens want fast internet everywhere by 2030. Permits should be issued faster. Public buildings should have free Wi-Fi.

The Greens want all dealings with public authorities to be available digitally as well, with services that are accessible, easy to understand and multilingual. Municipalities are to receive advice and funding for digitalization. No one is to be excluded from digital services, and in-person contact at offices is to remain.

People should be able to do all official business online too. The services should be easy to understand. Older people should get help using the internet. Anyone who wants can still go to the office in person.

The Greens want more support for digitalization research and for developing digital solutions in NRW, to reduce dependence on non-European providers. AI research would receive considerably more funding, and science would move toward open science.

The Greens want more research on digital technology in NRW. Artificial intelligence in particular should get more money. The technology should protect data and use little energy. Research results should be open to everyone.

The Greens want to simplify administrative procedures and offer them digitally by default without ending in-person contact. The E-Government Act is to apply to municipalities as well, and new ways of working are to be tested in pilot agencies.

Dealing with public offices is often complicated. The Greens want people to handle almost everything online. In-person appointments should stay. The state should help towns with the technology. Some offices should try out new ways of working.

The Greens want to enshrine high standards for IT security and data protection at state and municipal agencies in law. An information access law is to require public bodies to publish their information proactively in open, machine-readable form.

Public offices store a lot of important data. The Greens want a law to protect this data better. Offices should also publish much information on their own. This does not apply to data about individual people. Everyone should be able to use this information.

The Greens want to add staff to the justice system, modernize it and relieve it of some tasks so that proceedings move faster. No one in NRW is to be imprisoned for petty offenses; jail time in lieu of unpaid fines is to be largely replaced by community service.

Courts should get more staff. No one should go to prison for minor offenses. Riding without a ticket should no longer be reported to the police. People who cannot pay a fine should do community work instead of going to jail. The limit for cannabis should rise to 15 grams.

The Greens want more staff in the prison service, more attractive careers, and modernized prisons. This is meant to ease the burden on employees, ensure humane conditions, and reduce reoffending.

The Greens want more staff in prisons. Working there should become more attractive. Old prison buildings should be renewed. Prisoners should commit fewer crimes after release.

The Greens want to fight hate speech and violence online with effective prosecution, reporting channels, counseling, and public campaigns. The cybercrime units in the justice system and the state criminal police would be expanded for this purpose. The platform sees hate speech as a danger to those targeted and to democratic debate.

There is a lot of hate and insults on the internet. The Greens want stronger action against it. Special units in the courts and police should grow. Victims should get advice and a fixed contact person.

The Greens want a new victim protection law and a legal basis for the reintegration of offenders. The transition out of prison would be better organized, and alternatives to prison used more. Victims of sexual offenses, stalking, and threats would face less strain in court.

The Greens want a new law to protect victims of crime. Released prisoners should get help with work and housing. Other penalties should be used more often instead of prison. Victims should be questioned more gently in court.

The Greens want to keep police hiring at its high level while reflecting society's diversity in recruitment. More officers would work in neighborhood and priority-area policing. The criminal investigation police would get more staff and better training.

The Greens want to keep hiring many new police officers. The police should be as diverse as society. More officers should work in neighborhoods. The detective branch should also get more staff.

The Greens reject blanket video surveillance without cause and biometric recognition software. The powers of the police and the domestic intelligence agency would be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Tasers would be limited to special units, and officers would wear anonymized identification.

The Greens do not want cameras everywhere without a reason. They also reject software that recognizes faces. Regular police officers should no longer carry Tasers. Officers should wear a number, but not their name.

The Greens want to correct the 2018 tightening of the state's police law. Preventive detention would be capped at 48 hours, and stops without cause would be abolished. The platform says intrusions on fundamental rights should be limited to what is strictly necessary.

In 2018, the police in NRW got more powers. The Greens want to take some of them back. Police should hold people as a precaution for 48 hours at most. Stops without a reason should end.

The Greens want every suspected case of right-wing extremism in the police fully investigated and want to introduce mandatory training. An academic study would examine racist and other dehumanizing attitudes in the NRW police. Everyone should be able to trust that the police will not discriminate against them.

The Greens want to act against racism in the police. Every suspicion of far-right views should be checked closely. Officers should take required training on this. Researchers should study attitudes in the police.

The Greens want to create an independent police commissioner's office attached to the state parliament. It would be a point of contact for both citizens and police officers and would uncover structural problems. Whistleblowers within the police would receive special protection.

The Greens want an independent office for complaints about the police. It should belong to the state parliament. Citizens and police officers can contact it. People who report problems should not suffer for it.

The Greens want to standardize the tasks of the county police authorities and pool them regionally. According to the platform, the police structure in NRW is especially fragmented, so local authorities cannot handle large cases. The police are still meant to remain reachable everywhere in the state.

NRW has many small police authorities. The Greens say this makes big cases harder to handle. Tasks should be the same everywhere and grouped by region. The police should still be present everywhere.

The Greens want a regular security report prepared with the involvement of outside researchers. It would go beyond the police crime statistics, which the party says do not give a full picture. Crime policy is thus meant to rest on an evidence-based footing.

The Greens want a regular report on safety in NRW. Outside researchers should help write it. The report should also show crimes that nobody reported. This should help politicians make better decisions.

The Greens want to restrict the Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence service) to monitoring anti-constitutional, violence-prone movements. They reject state spyware and want to review and reduce the use of informants. Parliamentary oversight is to be expanded at the same time.

The Verfassungsschutz is a domestic intelligence service. The Greens want to limit its tasks. It should mainly watch violent enemies of democracy. It should not use spy software on phones and computers. The state parliament should control it more closely.

The Greens want to reorganize disaster response after the Covid pandemic and the floods of July 2021. They plan binding needs plans, a dedicated state agency and better warning systems. Volunteers in fire departments and aid organizations are to receive more support.

The Greens want better protection in disasters. They want to learn from the pandemic and the 2021 floods. The state should get its own disaster agency. Warnings should reach everyone and be easy to understand. Volunteer helpers should get more support.

The Greens want to convene citizens' assemblies on selected future issues and strengthen direct democracy in the state constitution. Petitions for referendums and initiatives should need fewer signatures and be possible on more topics. The platform argues that participation improves decisions.

The Greens want to set up citizens' assemblies. There, randomly chosen people discuss a question. The state parliament must debate their proposals. Referendum petitions should also get easier. They would need fewer signatures.

The Greens want a law on assemblies that makes demonstrations easier and protects them. They reject expanded powers for video recording, and some criminal offenses such as the ban on face coverings are to become administrative offenses.

The Greens want to make demonstrations easier. Everyone should be able to register a protest simply. Police should not film more than federal law allows. Covering your face should no longer be a crime. It should only lead to a fine.

The Greens want to lower the voting age for state elections to 16 and later consider lowering it further. A mandatory youth check for legislation and binding youth representation in municipalities are meant to secure young people's say.

The Greens want young people to vote in state elections from age 16. New laws should be checked: what do they mean for young people? Every town should have a body that speaks for young people. Children should have a say in daycare and school.

The Greens want to give civic engagement more weight in government policy and secure long-term support for associations and clubs. Voluntary service is to be expanded, and volunteers are to get discounts like those for school and university students.

Many people help for free in clubs or the fire brigade. The Greens want to support them better. Clubs should get reliable funding. More young people should be able to do a voluntary year. They should pay less for buses, trains and culture.

The Greens want to make work in city and town councils easier so that more people from different backgrounds take part. This includes digital meetings, more paid staff support for council groups and new advisory boards.

Many people serve on the town council as volunteers. This takes a lot of time. The Greens want to make it easier. Meetings should also be possible online. Council groups should get more paid helpers. There should be advisory boards for young people, seniors and immigrants.

The Greens want to improve working conditions in public service in order to fill vacancies. The core is a lifetime working-time account, along with remote work, more equality for women and protection of staff from violence.

The state lacks many employees. The Greens want to make these jobs more attractive. Staff should be able to save up working time. They can then retire earlier or take time off. Women should have equal chances at top jobs.

The Greens want to introduce a binding lobby register for the state parliament and state government as well as a "legislative footprint." Lawmakers are to disclose outside income in full, and whistleblowers are to be better protected.

The Greens want to show who influences laws. For this, there should be a public lobby register. Lawmakers should report all outside income. They may not do paid work for lobby groups. People who report wrongdoing should be protected.

The Greens want public authorities to reflect society's diversity and be equally accessible to everyone. Binding targets, mandatory training and more multilingual services are meant to achieve this.

The Greens want public offices to be as diverse as society. There should be fixed targets for this. Staff should take training on human rights and against discrimination. Offices, police and emergency services should offer more languages.

The Greens want to keep cooperating with the churches while making the state more neutral on matters of belief. This includes a relaxed public holiday law, an end to the fee for leaving the church and the redemption of historical state payments to the churches.

The Greens want to keep working with the churches. But the state should be neutral. People who leave the church should no longer pay a fee. Dancing and culture should be allowed on quiet holidays if they do not disturb. The state should end old payments to the churches.

The Greens want people with little money to be better informed about legal aid. Courses taught by judges and prosecutors would explain rights and duties under the rule of law. Justice system employees would receive training on diversity issues.

Everyone should be able to get their rights easily. People with little money should learn more about legal aid. Judges should explain the legal system in courses. Court staff should learn not to treat anyone unfairly.

The Greens want stronger, permanent funding for initiatives and counseling services against right-wing extremism, racism, and antisemitism. Security agencies would get better analytical tools and quickly enforce outstanding arrest warrants against right-wing extremists. The platform sees right-wing extremism as the greatest danger to society.

The Greens want to do more against far-right extremism. Small groups should get money for this easily. Counseling services should get more money for the long term. Police should quickly arrest wanted far-right extremists.

The Greens want EU funding to go into new projects and innovation rather than plugging existing budget gaps. Funded projects should demonstrably contribute to climate protection, biodiversity and digitalization.

The EU gives money to regions that are changing. The Greens want to use this money for new projects. It should not fill gaps in the budget. The projects should help the climate, nature and digitalization.

The Greens name a European federal state in the form of a federal republic as their goal and want to actively support the Conference on the Future of Europe to that end. Their reasoning is that the social and ecological consequences of climate change can only be handled internationally.

The Greens want Europe to grow closer together. In the end, there should be a European republic. In it, the countries work together like in one federal state. The Greens say: no country can solve big problems like climate change alone. NRW should also stand up for human rights in the EU.

The Greens want to found a state Europe foundation that promotes European values and democracy in education inside and outside schools. It is meant to coordinate the many scattered offerings in NRW and strengthen exchange between municipalities and regions across Europe.

The Greens want to found a Europe foundation. The foundation should teach people about Europe and democracy. This should happen in schools and outside of schools. The foundation should connect cities across Europe. This way, people can experience the EU where they live.

The Greens want to strengthen development-related engagement in NRW, from volunteering and educational programs to cooperation with the partner countries South Africa and Ghana. Town twinning is to be oriented toward sustainability goals, human rights and fair trade. Municipal climate partnerships are to get a state advisory office and funding.

Many people in NRW volunteer to help people in poorer countries. The Greens want to support this work more. NRW should work more closely with South Africa and Ghana. Cities should protect the climate together with partner cities. The state should provide an advice office and money for this.

The Greens commit to the Bonn-Berlin Act and want to keep supporting the federal city of Bonn through a supplementary contractual agreement. NRW is to take a leading role in development cooperation and establish itself as a conference location for human rights, peace, sustainability and democratization.

Many international organizations are based in Bonn. The Greens want to keep supporting this location. There should be an extra agreement for this. NRW should become an important place for meetings on human rights and peace. The state should lead the way in helping poorer countries.

The Greens want to set up a protection program in NRW for people who are persecuted in their home countries because of their work, faith, appearance or orientation. It is modeled on the Bundestag program "Parlamentarier schützen Parlamentarier" (parliamentarians protect parliamentarians). Those affected are to be safe in NRW and able to continue their work.

People are persecuted in many countries. This affects journalists, lawmakers and people from minorities, for example. The Greens want to give these people protection in NRW. There should be a special program for this. The Bundestag has had such a program since 2003.

The Greens want to broaden the culture of remembrance in North Rhine-Westphalia and systematically examine colonial history and its consequences. They also want to strengthen multilingualism, human rights education and the representation of people with an immigrant background.

The Greens want NRW to look closely at colonial history. Colonial history means: European countries once ruled other countries. There should be a plan for this. The history of immigration should also get more attention. People with an immigrant background should have more say.

The Greens want to raise the state's arts funding substantially, including for the independent scene and community arts. The cultural sector should be able to recover after the Covid crisis. Municipalities are also to be strengthened financially for this purpose.

The Greens want to spend more money on culture. The money should also go to independent artists and small arts groups. Culture should recover from the Covid crisis. Cities and towns should also have more money for culture.

The Greens want arts funding to also aim at the social security of artists. They plan a minimum fee at public theaters and want to continue the state's grant programs for now. The platform cites low, irregular incomes and inadequate retirement provision as the reason.

Many artists earn little and not regularly. The Greens want to protect them better. Public theaters should pay a minimum fee. The state should keep paying grants until the pandemic ends.

The Greens want to preserve cultural spaces across North Rhine-Westphalia and create new ones. This includes affordable production spaces and workshops, temporary use of vacant buildings and protecting clubs from displacement. State-owned buildings and land are also to be opened up for this.

Culture needs space. The Greens want to create rooms for art and culture. Empty buildings should be usable for culture. Artists should get low-cost workshops. Clubs should not be pushed out.

The Greens want to expand arts education for children and teenagers and make access to culture socially fair. They want to pilot a culture pass for young people and advance model projects such as a culture ticket or free admission for school classes. Arts subjects in schools are to be strengthened.

Children and teenagers should find it easier to enjoy culture. The Greens want to test a culture pass for young people. School classes should go to theaters, museums and concerts more often. Music and art should matter more in school.

The Greens want to keep alive the memory of the victims of National Socialism and continue funding memorial sites. They argue that few eyewitnesses remain and that many families have no personal link to Nazi history. They reject calls to draw a line under remembrance.

The Greens want to remember the victims of the Nazi era. Memorial sites should keep getting money. Only a few eyewitnesses are still alive. So remembrance should stay tangible for everyone. Victims of far-right violence after 1945 should also be remembered.

The Greens want to strengthen heritage protection in North Rhine-Westphalia and preserve the role of the specialist offices at the regional associations. They oppose the state government's planned heritage protection law, which in their view weakens the protection of listed buildings. At the same time, climate-friendly construction is to be reconciled with heritage protection.

The Greens want to protect historic monuments better. Experts in the heritage offices should keep their say. The Greens oppose the state government's planned law. Heritage protection and climate-friendly building should fit together.

The Greens want publicly funded cultural institutions to pay more attention to social diversity and accessibility. More women are to become artistic directors, and new leadership models are to replace the hierarchical director model. The arts sector is also to use resources more sparingly.

Cultural institutions should reflect the diversity of society. More women should run theaters. There should be new forms of leadership with less hierarchy. The arts should also work in a greener way.

The Greens commit to public broadcasting independent of the state and want to keep securing the funding of WDR (the regional public broadcaster). The broadcaster is also to evolve and reach groups it has so far struggled to address. Its boards, formats and content are to reflect society's diversity better.

The Greens support public broadcasting. WDR should keep getting enough money. It should reach more young people and people with a migration background. The media libraries of all public broadcasters should grow together.

The Greens want to preserve the diversity of local newspapers and radio stations so that no areas are left without independent reporting. They want to promote nonprofit journalism and strengthen local radio. Media concentration law is to cover digital media as well.

There are fewer and fewer local newspapers and radio stations. The Greens want to support these media. Nonprofit journalism should get donations more easily. Nonprofit means it does not work for profit. The rules against too much power for single media companies should be updated.

The Greens want people of all ages to learn to use information and media competently and to recognize false reports. Against disinforming and inflammatory content, they rely on fact-checks, an expanded right of reply and criminal prosecution. WDR's multilingual programming is to grow substantially again.

False news can harm democracy. The Greens want everyone to learn to understand media well. Students in particular should be able to spot false reports. Hate speech and targeted lies should be prosecuted. WDR should again offer more programs in other languages.

The Greens want to further strengthen the film and media sector in North Rhine-Westphalia as an economic factor. Funding and networking are to be expanded, start-ups in the creative industries supported and pop culture funding established. They also back locating a German Photo Institute in the state.

North Rhine-Westphalia is an important state for film and media. The Greens want to keep supporting this industry. Founders in creative businesses should get more help. Pop culture should also get funding. A German Photo Institute should come to the state.

The Greens want to support the consumer advice centers in building digital services and to substantially expand advice on energy and climate. The party regards independent consumer advice as an essential public service. The network of advice offices is to be funded for the long term.

Consumer advice centers help people, for example before buying solar panels. The Greens want more of this advice. Many services should be free. There should also be more advice online.

The Greens want to maintain sports facilities and convert them in a climate-friendly way, with financial support for municipalities. They put special emphasis on swimming pools and swimming lessons: every child should be able to learn to swim by the end of elementary school. The platform bases this on the role of sports in social cohesion and health.

The Greens want to fix sports fields, gyms and swimming pools. The buildings should become better for the climate. Cities and towns should get money for this. Every child should be able to learn to swim in elementary school. More people should volunteer in sports.

The Greens want to regulate sports funding in North Rhine-Westphalia through a dedicated law and set up a state sports conference with all key players. Funding for the state sports federation is to become transparent and legally sound. Protection against violence in sports is also to be expanded.

The Greens want a law for funding sports. Everyone in NRW should be able to do sports. There should be a sports conference for the whole state. All the important people in sports talk to each other there. There should also be more protection against violence in sports.

The Greens want to introduce regular dialogue formats and fan hearings around sporting events to improve cooperation among everyone involved and strengthen efforts against violence and discrimination. They also want to support gaming culture and e-sports and have e-sports clubs recognized as nonprofit organizations.

The Greens want fans, clubs and police to talk to each other regularly. This should mean less violence and hate in sports. The Greens also want to support e-sports. E-sports means people play computer games as a competition. E-sports clubs should count as nonprofit.