SPD on the environment and animal welfare

The SPD wants to make greater use of peatlands, forests, grassland and seagrass meadows as natural carbon stores. It plans binding quotas for rewetting peatlands and 2.9 million new trees in the next legislative term. This is also meant to protect species.

Peatlands, forests and meadows store the climate gas CO2. The SPD wants to make drained peatlands wet again. It wants to plant 2.9 million new trees. That is one tree for every person in the state. Seagrass in the Baltic Sea should grow back too.

The peatland strategy would get funding and full-time staff, because the state has so far relied too much on volunteers, according to the platform; it aims to bind well over the 700,000 tons of CO2 planned so far. A funding program would support reforestation and new forests with money and staff, and public forests would lead on forest conversion. Together with farmers, the SPD wants to preserve and expand permanent grassland and protect the status of fallow farmland. Seagrass meadows along the Baltic coast would be restored and enlarged. Salt marshes on the North Sea coast and the Hallig islands would also be used more as carbon stores.

The SPD calls for a water protection drive because, according to the platform, the goals of the EU Water Framework Directive are being missed. The North Sea and Baltic Sea would be better protected and old munitions safely recovered. Water supply should stay in public hands.

The SPD wants to protect rivers, lakes and seas better. Fewer pollutants should get into the water. Old munitions from wars lie in the sea. The SPD wants to remove them safely. Water should belong to the public, not to private companies.

Fishing should have a future and be brought into balance with nature conservation. On decaying old munitions, the SPD wants more money for research into effects on marine life and to continue the federal-state working group. Pollutant inputs are to fall. Extra funds are planned for restoring river landscapes, along with a dedicated program to protect coastal dunes. The party wants to discuss further drinking water protection steps with water suppliers.

The SPD wants to counter species loss and implement the state's biodiversity strategy. This includes a larger habitat network, a species protection program and more insect protection. Animal shelters would continue to receive funding.

Many animal and plant species are disappearing. The SPD wants to stop that. It wants to create more protected areas for nature. Children should learn more about biodiversity at school. Animal shelters should keep getting money.

The habitat network would be protected and expanded, and management plans for Flora-Fauna-Habitat areas implemented. The species protection program would take climate change into account and cover less endangered species as well as threatened ones. Public land for biodiversity would be created. Nature conservation agencies would get enough staff for this. Biodiversity would get more space in educational institutions and curricula. Against illegal animal trade, the SPD relies among other things on more public education.

The SPD wants to bring privately run waste and sewage sludge incineration plants back into state ownership. Municipalities would get help with taking them back. Waste should only be burned when recycling and reuse are not better options.

Some waste-burning plants belong to private companies. The SPD wants them to belong to the public again. Waste should only be burned if it cannot be reused. Good filters should protect the environment and neighbors.

The platform justifies the step by saying incineration causes large amounts of greenhouse gases and poses a high environmental risk. The plants should always use the most modern filter technology to protect the environment and local residents. Public ownership is meant to guarantee that these requirements are met.

The SPD wants to improve animal welfare in livestock farming and backs a mandatory government animal welfare label. A new state veterinary office is meant to ensure uniform standards across the state.

The SPD wants farm animals to be treated better. A required government label should show how animals are kept. There should be a new state office for animal health. This office should set the same rules for all counties.

Livestock farming is to be subject to an upper limit tied to land area. A livestock strategy for Schleswig-Holstein is to be drawn up with the Round Table on Livestock Farming. At the federal level, the SPD wants higher standards to stay affordable for farms, including through a financing tool and by resolving conflicts between animal welfare and emissions rules. The state veterinary office is also to serve as the top state authority for food inspection, because county veterinary offices currently interpret the law differently.

The SPD wants net land consumption to reach zero by 2050. Land that can no longer be used is to be unsealed to offset new development, and soil is to be protected from erosion and compaction.

The SPD wants to protect the soil. By 2050, no more land should be built over than is freed up. Old, unused paved areas should be opened up again. Parks and community gardens should get funding.

Areas that are no longer suitable for housing or other uses because of demographic or economic trends would be unsealed, offsetting land needed for new housing. The guiding principle is to seal as little soil as necessary and unseal as much as possible. Together with municipalities, the SPD wants to develop plans that balance nature and climate protection, recreation, housing, business and agriculture. Public parks, allotment gardens, urban gardening and parklets are to be supported.