The Social Association VdK is demanding an amendment to the German Basic Law (Grundgesetz) to address heat protection. This requirement, reported by the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, centers on urging the federal government to formally embed climate adaptation as a shared public task within the constitution.
VdK President Verena Bentele argued that the federal government must establish conditions ensuring that all citizens are effectively protected from heat, regardless of their income, living situation, or pre-existing health challenges. She specified that mandatory standards, reliable financial backing, and clear responsibilities are necessary.
Among her policy demands, Bentele called for public cooling centers in local communities. She also stressed that institutions like nursing homes, schools, and women’s shelters must be adequately shielded from the heat. Furthermore, to effectively reach vulnerable individuals during heat warnings, she suggested introducing voluntary, data-compliant municipal registries.
The VdK also highlighted that installing cooling devices, fans, or features like awnings, external blinds, or shutters can be prohibitively expensive, meaning not everyone can bear the costs alone. Therefore, they insist that politics must act preventively by offering targeted funding to combat energy poverty during the summer.
The need for structural change is echoed by Burkhard Jung, President of the German Cities’ Association, who also calls for heat protection to be formally included in the constitution as a shared state responsibility. “Heat protection is an ongoing task,” Jung told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.
He emphasized that adding climate adaptation and heat protection measures to the Basic Law would help financially underfunded municipalities by enabling joint funding from the federal and state levels. This, he reasoned, would establish a new shared responsibility. Jung reiterated that while climate protection and adaptation are permanent topics, a constitutional amendment would be the most effective way to obligate the federal and state governments.
Separately, the SPD politician also criticized the recent building modernization law, which replaced the previous building energy act this summer. While celebrating the overall progress in heating planning-noting that almost all cities over 100,000 inhabitants have submitted a heating plan, and others are nearly finished-Jung pointed out that the new law has once again altered the framework conditions.
“It has caused renewed uncertainty, especially for major investments, such as in geothermal or district heating,” he stated. This raises the question of the right path forward. Jung concluded that both planning security and reliability are crucial elements that are currently lacking, and he preferred the older law which mandated a higher share of renewable energy sources.
