Grüne on the economy

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 industry pact is meant to help industrial companies invest in climate-neutral processes. It is to supplement instruments that, in the Greens' view, must be launched quickly at the federal level. The platform wants to secure NRW as a leading industrial region in Europe and argues that climate-neutral production is a competitive advantage. Industry is also to become cleaner and more efficient through renewable energy and a circular economy.

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 platform treats climate-neutral steel, green hydrogen, clean chemicals and new construction methods as the basis of future prosperity. Mid-sized firms, skilled trades and startups would get better working conditions, low-bureaucracy funding and a skilled-worker drive. Planning procedures for the transition would be sped up using every state-level option, the administration digitized and digital infrastructure made a top-level priority. The party sides with unions on wages and co-determination and wants to support social enterprises. It favors binding social and environmental standards in trade and supply chains, the use of EU Green Deal funds and stronger consumer advice centers.

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.

Besides the state investment package, the federal government is to create climate contracts that back investments in climate-neutral processes. Funding for energy efficiency in companies is to become easier to access, with less red tape. Public contracts are to follow long-term climate and sustainability standards, with rising quotas for climate-neutral products. An expansion of renewable energy is meant to secure the energy supply for business. According to the platform, small and mid-sized firms in particular would benefit from the social-ecological investment program.

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 party wants to push at the federal level for dumping protection that works across the whole EU and also covers climate dumping. The federal government is to set up climate contracts (Carbon Contracts for Difference) quickly and allow declining-balance depreciation, which is meant to lower investment risk. Supplying industry with green hydrogen has top priority for the Greens. To that end, renewable energy is to be expanded, domestic hydrogen production funded and import infrastructure built.

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 guiding vision for structural change is to be developed further, with fairness between generations, climate protection and sustainability at its core. Civil society is to get more say, for example through citizens' assemblies, and places for exchange are to be created. Every funded project must contribute to climate protection and fit the sustainability goals. A training drive is to support workers and counter the shortage of skilled labor in climate-related fields. Nature in the region is to be given greater weight, and the Ruhr area is to build on its position as a hydrogen region.

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 money for the networks is to come from the federal Zukunftsfonds (future fund). The networks are to develop strategies for the sector and the region, give advice, pool research findings and help start-ups enter the market. Affiliated training institutes are to teach workers future technologies and digital skills together with vocational training centers and universities. Small and mid-sized companies are also to get ideas there for moving toward Industry 4.0.

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 plan includes a bioeconomy future program and a bioeconomy council for NRW. Funding goes to research and development on renewable raw materials and to business projects. Crops are to be grown without genetic engineering or harmful substances, and organic food production is to be taken into account. The party expects this to create jobs in farming, chemicals, industry and the circular economy.

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.

Legal foundations are to be created against wage dumping, contracts for work and subcontractor models that the platform calls exploitative. Whether individual trades again need a mandatory master craftsman qualification is to be reviewed continuously with guilds, chambers and researchers. Businesses are to get support with the ecological and digital transition. They are to keep control over their data and processes and gain access to online sales.

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 support is aimed at projects in digitalization, family-friendliness and sustainability. Tailored assistance and low-interest loans are planned. The party justifies this with the role of small and mid-sized companies in providing jobs and social cohesion.

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 deferrals apply to repaying emergency and bridging aid and are aimed at solo self-employed people, cultural workers and firms with no more than 50 employees. Advice on restructuring and insolvency is to be expanded, and quick initial and follow-up advice subsidized. This is meant to allow orderly insolvency proceedings and preserve jobs. Solo self-employed people and apprentices are to gain access to safety nets such as Kurzarbeitergeld (short-time work allowance).

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 program relies on new uses, art, start-ups, pop-ups, educational institutions and hacker and maker spaces in the centers. A fund is to give municipalities money to buy strategically important buildings such as former department stores. A new state competition is to honor local concepts for lively centers. Municipalities are to receive sufficient permanent funding rather than only short-term project grants, including for forward-looking land policy.

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 program builds on a funding scheme launched by the SPD-Green state government in 2016. It mentions local online retail platforms, virtual stores, digital shopping guides and the use of anonymized customer data by brick-and-mortar shops. Small retail businesses are to get help with the cost of opening these new sales channels. Additional money is planned for smart-city approaches that combine old and new business models.

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.

Small businesses that ran into trouble because of Covid are to receive support. Together with industry associations, regional agencies and the state agency NRW.Tourismus, advisory services for new business models are to grow. Digital tools are to link offers and steer visitor flows. Besides the planned Senne national park, regions such as the Sauerland are to get help with concepts that also work in winters with little snow.

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.

The founders' grant is to be improved and the network of hubs expanded across the state. Business registration is to be digital everywhere and handled through a single point of contact. Priority goes to start-ups focused on sustainability, gender equality and the common good; such firms are also to get more consideration in public procurement. Half of the funds are earmarked for women, juries are to have gender parity, and there are to be offers for people with a migration background. NRW.BANK is to support start-ups for longer, microloans are to become easier to obtain, and silent partnerships are to be expanded. A Bundesrat initiative is to push for a parental allowance for founders.

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 fund is to secure even large investments, for example in green tech, artificial intelligence, sustainable mobility, life sciences, quantum computing, IT security, communications and biotechnology. According to the program, the goal is to keep start-ups and research-driven mid-sized firms in NRW for the long term. Women entrepreneurs are to receive special consideration because, in the party's view, they have been disadvantaged in conventional venture capital financing.

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.

Approval and review procedures are to run faster with digital tools and, where possible, automatically. By the end of 2023, a package of measures for a digital structural reform of state and municipal administrations is to be drawn up with input from the public and businesses. The work of local councils is also to go digital. For small businesses, the program plans minimum thresholds, bundled statistical surveys and wider use of change notifications, where data is reported only when it changes significantly.

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.

Support is planned for purpose-driven companies, social enterprises, cooperatives, sharing projects, commons and a solidarity-based platform economy, for instance through a "Wirtschaftsförderung 4.0" (business development 4.0). State-owned companies and holdings are to lead by example and take part in a pilot project on common-good accounting in the next legislative term. Private companies are to be invited to join with advisory support.

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 platform cites 86 institutions with 251 billion euros in deposits and a market share of up to 50 percent. In the party's view, the savings banks take part too rarely in the transition and in start-up financing, partly because of a narrow legal framework. ESG criteria, meaning standards for environment, social issues and good governance, should become standard for the banks' own investments and for advice to private and business customers.

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 bank's public mandate would be extended to include the goal of transformation. This refers to the social-ecological and digital-sustainable restructuring of the economy and society. The bank currently supports mid-sized businesses, municipalities and housing; its whole funding strategy would now be geared to transformation and sustainability.

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 platform calls for adjusting the legal rules for municipal procurement. In addition to cost-effectiveness, how sustainable a bid is in environmental and social terms should count in the future. The aim is to give sustainability more weight in procurement overall.

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.

According to the platform, the federal law does not cover large parts of German business. The party wants to keep pushing for a supply chain law that protects workers' rights and environmental standards in third countries as well and holds companies responsible for violations by their suppliers. The state is to support municipalities in sustainable procurement and help them with tenders on request. Pilot municipalities are to pass their experience on to others.