Grüne on the economy

The Greens want to implement the Green New Deal in Saxony faster and shift the economy toward climate-friendly business. Saxony is to remain an energy and industrial state. The platform argues that a swift transition keeps the state's economy competitive.

The Greens want Saxony's economy to become climate-friendly. This should happen faster than now. Saxony should stay a state with a lot of industry. The party says this keeps companies strong.

The platform relies on industry, skilled trades, and small and medium-sized businesses to carry the transition. The use of natural resources is to drop significantly. It names renewable energy infrastructure, regional value creation, the circular economy, smart commercial transport, and wastewater treatment as increasingly important location factors. The Greens describe themselves as a partner to businesses and also want to support the self-employed, service companies, and the liberal professions.

The Greens want to make the health economy a priority of Saxony's economic policy. The platform points to the strong growth of the life sciences and argues that this sector can grow in a carbon-neutral way more easily than others.

The Greens want to strengthen the health economy in Saxony. This includes companies in medicine and life sciences. These companies are growing fast. The party says they can grow without harming the climate.

The platform describes life sciences and biosciences in Saxony as growing strongly. It cites the aging population and the sector's ability to grow without added carbon emissions as reasons. Strengthening the sector is called a central goal of economic policy.

The Greens want to support regional producers, direct marketing, the food industry, and skilled trades. Public contracts are to take regional quality criteria into account. The platform argues that regional economic cycles make the economy more independent and protect the environment.

The Greens want to give more support to local businesses. This includes farmers, food companies, and craftspeople. The state should look at regional quality when it awards contracts. A website should show products made in Saxony.

Support is to stay within EU state aid rules and cover investment, innovation, networking, and sales promotion. Organic farming is to be advanced, as are companies developing sustainable products such as bio-based ones. For consumers, the platform aims for as much transparency as possible about the origin, composition, and production of goods. Regional supply structures and a digital marketplace are meant to make it easier to find products from Saxony.

The Greens want to further develop the state's tourism strategy with a focus on sustainability, variety of offerings, and securing skilled workers. Winter sports regions are to become independent of artificial snowmaking; the platform calls for a year-round tourism plan and a winter sports strategy. Climate-damaging investments are to be excluded from tourism funding.

Climate change means less snow. So the Greens want tourism all year round. Winter sports towns should no longer depend on artificial snow. Projects that harm the climate should get no funding. Small businesses should get help.

Saxony's profile as a destination for cultural and city tourism is to be preserved and expanded, and gaps in what is offered are to be filled. The platform points to the high energy use of artificial snowmaking and names the Ore Mountains, the Vogtland, and the Zittau Mountains as affected regions. A year-round plan is meant to give hotels, restaurants, and other businesses better occupancy outside the season. Small and family-run businesses are to get relief as they move to sustainable operations, and certification is to be manageable for the smallest firms too.

The Greens want to steer public investment toward infrastructure, education and green technologies. A guideline with sustainability standards is meant to shape planning and financing decisions, and planning and permitting authorities are to be better equipped.

The Greens want the state to invest money in a targeted way. The money should go to infrastructure, education and green technology. A guideline should set rules for sustainability. The offices for planning and permits should get more resources.

According to the platform, the public sector should direct investment to areas that serve society as a whole. It names the transformation of infrastructure, better conditions for education and start-up funding for green technologies. The Greens regard renewable energy as the key location factor of the future. Infrastructure is to be funded when it is planned, built and operated sustainably across its whole life cycle. To that end, planning and permitting authorities are to be adequately equipped.

The Greens want to overhaul Saxony's funding system: support programs are to become simpler, transparent and digital while pursuing ecological and social goals. Longer-term, institutional funding is meant to cut red tape and provide security, especially in the social sector.

The Greens want to make funding in Saxony simpler. Applications should be digital and easy to understand. Funding should come with conditions. Some areas should get money for a longer time. Founders should have less paperwork.

The Greens see state funding as a lever for economic goals that serve society as a whole, and it should meet quality requirements. According to the platform, direct grants to companies can also serve ecological and social goals if designed well. Funding is to strengthen innovative, competitive companies and create incentives for sustainable business models. Founders are to get active support and relief through digitalization and less bureaucracy. Companies with a viable, sustainable business model are to be encouraged to settle in Saxony.

The Greens want to give preference in funding to sustainable product design and circular-economy business models. In construction, durable, repairable and reusable building methods are to be strengthened. This is meant to bring investment in innovative fields especially to regions undergoing structural change.

The Greens want to fund companies that reuse things. This is called a circular economy. Buildings should last a long time. Building parts should be usable again. The paperwork for funding should get simpler.

In planning and building, durability, repairability, reusable components and materials, and modularity are to count. Funding is to create incentives for modular construction, recycled building materials and high-quality use of existing buildings. To raise acceptance of sustainable building, the proof required in funding programs is to be simplified.

The Greens want to bring companies from strategically important industries such as solar manufacturing to Saxony. For new commercial projects, adding renewable energy installations is to be a binding criterion, and new business parks are to require good public transit access.

The Greens want to bring certain companies to Saxony. These include companies from the solar industry. New business parks should get power from wind and sun. People should be able to reach them easily by bus and train. If there is a dispute, a mediator should help.

Support is also meant for companies that close a gap in regional value chains. The platform counts transport, storage capacity, digital networks and research as part of modern infrastructure. New concepts for supplying business parks with energy and raw materials are to be supported. To prevent conflicts over new sites, there is to be a transparent participation process beforehand. Where conflicts already exist, professional mediation is to help.

The Greens want funds for structural change in the coal regions to arrive faster and be awarded transparently. Local people are to have a say, and the regional advisory committees are to get real decision-making powers. Companies are to be able to receive funding directly in the future.

The Greens want to hand out the money for the coal regions faster. People there should help decide. The process should be open. Companies should be able to get money directly too. Sorbs, women and young people should have more of a say.

The structures, from the Sächsische Agentur für Strukturwandel (Saxon agency for structural change) to the advisory committees, are to be reorganized. Companies should be able to use funds for modernization and training toward climate-neutral production. The Sorbian people's right to a say is to be guaranteed in mining and structural change, and women, children and young people are to get more weight. The Greens also want to secure the rail vehicle and railcar plants in eastern Saxony for the long term and strengthen research. Cooperation with Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Poland and the Czech Republic is to continue.

The Greens want to strengthen the skilled trades through better business conditions and fewer bureaucratic hurdles. A broad appreciation campaign is meant to raise the standing of the trades and win young people for vocational training.

The Greens want to help the skilled trades. There should be less paperwork. More people should start their own trade business. A campaign should show how important the trades are. Young people should become interested in training.

The platform describes the skilled trades as central to the economy, social stability and the ecological transformation. It highlights small businesses in particular, which secure regional value creation and give young people prospects. The Greens count renewable energy infrastructure and digitalization among good business conditions.

The Greens want to fund IT security and digitalization at small and medium-sized trade businesses. To transform the construction sector, businesses are to cooperate more closely so that regional value chains for sustainable building emerge.

The Greens want to help small trade businesses. They should get money for secure computers and digital tools. Building firms should work together more. Used building parts should be reused through special exchanges.

Existing IT security programs run by the chambers of industry and commerce and the chambers of skilled crafts are to keep receiving support. The party wants additional investment in digitalization and IT security to be funded through the Sächsische Aufbaubank (Saxony's development bank). Because small firms can hardly handle large projects alone, the platform plans incentives for cooperation, targeted training, and support for the trades' training centers. Tradespeople, engineers, architects, and contracting authorities are to work closely together. Exchanges for used building components and recycled building materials are meant to advance the circular economy.

The Greens want to keep energy-intensive industry in Saxony and cap the electricity price during the transition period. The state is to catch up on expanding renewable energy, which the platform says secures low prices in the long run. Companies should also become less dependent on authoritarian states.

The Greens want to keep industry in Saxony. Many companies need a lot of electricity. So the price of electricity should have an upper limit for some time. Saxony should make more power from wind and sun.

The platform calls for concrete scenarios for transforming Saxony's energy sector, covering renewable generation, storage, grids, hydrogen, heat pumps, and e-mobility. Key industries from microelectronics to suppliers are to be made fit for the future. Companies are to get help diversifying their supply chains and building ties mainly with democratic countries. For water-intensive sectors such as semiconductor production, the party wants to implement the state's 2023 framework plan for public water supply.

The Greens want to make it easier to start a business by cutting red tape and improving access to capital. Women, people with a migration background, and other underrepresented groups are to get dedicated funding budgets. Social enterprises are also to receive more support.

The Greens want more people to be able to start a company. There should be less paperwork for that. Women and people with a migration background should get extra funding. Companies with social goals should get more help too.

In rural areas, shared workplaces such as co-working spaces are to be supported. For women founders, the party wants to adapt funding offers and make part-time startups easier. Ideas from research are to become products through validation funding and support up to market entry. Research and development at small and mid-sized companies is to receive state funding. The platform does not rule out temporary state equity stakes in new companies. Existing funding programs are to be widened for social innovation and enterprises focused on the common good.

The Greens want to use the European Chips Act and federal support to strengthen Saxony as a leading IT location in the EU. The chip industry, research, training, and other businesses are to be linked so that technologies such as artificial intelligence are developed in the state.

The Greens want many computer chips to be made in Saxony. They want to use money from the EU and the federal government for this. Companies, research, and training should work closely together. New technology should come from Saxony.

Saxony is to become known worldwide as a region for chip makers. The party wants to connect the industry's expertise with research institutes, training centers, and other businesses. This is meant to create a diverse technology landscape that benefits all sectors of the economy. The Saxon Digital Prize for digital innovations from business and civil society is to be awarded on a permanent basis.

The Greens want to link public contracts to environmental and social criteria, including compliance with collective wage agreements and a procurement-specific minimum wage. Bids are to be judged on costs over the entire life cycle. Government purchasing is meant to help sustainable products reach market maturity.

The state buys many things and awards contracts. The Greens want new rules for this. Companies should pay fair wages and protect the environment. The state should not look only at the purchase price.

Sustainability criteria are to be binding in all areas; these include the core labor standards of the International Labour Organization and gender equality. Uniform criteria and metrics are meant to simplify proof of compliance. Newly founded companies are to get easier access to tenders. A central state procurement office is to pool expertise and be open to municipalities as well. Guidelines and training are to prepare public agencies for sustainable, innovation-oriented purchasing.

The Greens want the state to buy only fairly produced goods and to secure this in the procurement law. Saxony is to set an example and support the supply chain law.

The state buys many products. The Greens want these products to be made fairly. This should be written into law. Saxony should use fair products at its own events.

The procurement law is to ensure that goods used by public bodies were produced fairly. At its own events the state is to rely more on fair-trade products and goods made to social and ecological standards. The existing advice services for sustainable procurement are to continue and grow as needed. Ecological standards and respect for human rights are to be conditions for project funding.