Linke on climate and energy

The Left wants Hamburg to be climate neutral by 2035 at the latest. Climate protection is to be designed with social fairness in mind because, in the program's view, many people cannot bear further costs.

The Left wants Hamburg to be climate neutral by 2035. That means the city no longer harms the climate. Climate protection should stay affordable for poor people. The city should use less energy overall.

The program justifies the goal by arguing that spending on climate protection today spares future generations far higher costs. It calls for a CO2 budget for the city, interim targets with quick corrections, and cuts to all greenhouse gases including methane, nitrous oxide and F-gases. Hamburg would declare a climate emergency. Resource and energy use would fall, along with a shift toward more modest lifestyles and an economy not geared to constant growth. Public business subsidies would be tied to energy savings plans.

The Left wants the city to keep expanding into energy generation and grids and to take over the Hansewerk Natur heating networks in 2026. According to the program, consumers should not have to pay for private companies' profits.

The Left wants the city to produce more energy itself. The city should also own heating networks. A heating network brings heat to homes. People should not pay for the profits of private firms.

The plans include municipal heat planning with local residents involved, expansion of public heating networks, and river heat pumps in the Elbe and Bille. Base grid fees would be cut, low-cost basic energy allotments offered, and residents given a share in the profits of the energy transition. Solar panels would go mainly on roofs and sealed surfaces, and wind turbines would be approved faster and without a blanket height limit. The program rejects biomass, imported wood at the Tiefstack plant and fracked gas. Green hydrogen would be produced publicly and only for industry; building retrofits should not raise total rent including heating.