Four years after the devastating floods in the Ahr Valley, a Green Party politician is advocating for a reallocation of funds from a dedicated infrastructure fund to prioritize climate-resilient infrastructure projects.
Julia Schneider, the Green Party’s rapporteur for climate adaptation, emphasized that the costs associated with rebuilding damaged infrastructure significantly outweigh the investments that could be made to prevent such damage. Her statements were released to the Funke-Mediengruppe newspapers.
Schneider argued that resources from the infrastructure fund should be directed towards building infrastructure designed to withstand extreme weather events. “We cannot afford to construct bridges that crack under heat or roads that burst apart during heavy rainfall” she stated.
Specifically, Schneider is calling for a significant acceleration in the development of “blue-green” infrastructure. This includes initiatives that leverage green spaces to absorb rainwater and mitigate flood risk and the strategic planting of trees to provide cooling and enhance urban habitability during periods of extreme heat.
She underscored the need for increased financial resources, particularly for municipalities responsible for implementing these changes on the ground, noting that significant reconstruction efforts are still underway following the catastrophic floods of July 2021. The floods resulted in 135 fatalities and extensive damage to thousands of buildings within the Ahr Valley.
