Federal Minister for the Environment Steffi Lemke commented: “The devastating consequences of the climate crisis are increasing at an alarming rate. The latest monitoring report makes this abundantly clear. More and more storms, heavy rainfall, droughts and heatwaves are having an impact on people's health, ecosystems and the economy. The good news is that more and more local authorities are becoming aware of their crucial role and are driving forward precautionary measures with specific projects. The German government is supporting them in this with five key levers: the Climate Adaptation Act and Strategy, the National Water Strategy, the Natural Climate Protection Action Programme and several funding programmes. It is clear that we need even more commitment. To maintain quality of life in Germany, we need to push climate adaptation more strongly, for example in urban development. Sponge cities with lots of greenery and unsealed surfaces have a cooling effect and can therefore mitigate heatwaves and also prevent flooding.”
UBA President Dirk Messner added: “The current monitoring report paints a precise picture of climate change and climate adaptation in Germany. In addition to the damage, the report also shows that adaptations are working on the ground. The number of heat-related deaths has been reduced through targeted information campaigns. The federal and state governments are also already working on the sustainable management of our water resources and soils as part of the National Water Strategy and the Natural Climate Protection Action Programme.”
The number of summers with severe heatwaves and unprecedented temperature records is increasing. In July 2022, for example, a temperature of over 40 degrees was measured for the first time north of 53 degrees latitude in Hamburg. The heatwaves put a particular strain on the population in large cities. In the hot summer of 2018, for example, 42 hot days were recorded in Frankfurt am Main, while the national average was 20 hot days. The past four years have also been characterised by severe regional droughts. Germany is one of the regions with the highest water loss worldwide. Since 2000, the country has lost 2.5 cubic kilometres of water per year. In the years 2019 to 2021, record low groundwater levels below the long-term lowest groundwater levels were recorded at the measuring points in many places. The effects of the drought years since 2018 have not yet been balanced out in 2023. The lack of water led to crop losses in agriculture. In 2018, for example, winter wheat yields were down 15 per cent and silage maize yields were down 20 per cent on the averages of the previous six years. The condition of German forests has deteriorated significantly due to drought stress and the associated beetle infestation. In 2020, 20 times as many spruce trees died compared to the average of the previous ten years (2010-2019). This affected entire forest stands, which died over large areas. Due to the extremely dry weather conditions there were considerably more forest fires and, in the north-eastern federal states, more extensive fires.
The warming of the environment and the loss of water have measurable ecological consequences. Warmer seas are causing the habitats of fish species to shift northwards. In the North Sea, native species are migrating to northern waters. At the same time, species from more southerly waters are moving in. In the Baltic Sea, rising water temperatures are leading to a decoupling of food chains. For example, herring spawn earlier due to the warming, but their food source, plankton, only develops later as daylight increases. Warming also leads to a change in species composition on land. This is shown, for example, by the data on birds and butterflies. New species are migrating from warmer regions, such as the tiger mosquito, which transmits pathogens which can have health consequences for humans.
The Climate Adaptation Act and the precautionary climate adaptation strategy with measurable targets, which is currently being developed in a broad participation process, are intended to make climate adaptation in Germany more binding and ambitious. The Climate Adaptation Act stipulates that the Federal Government will publish a monitoring report on DAS every four years in future. This will make it an important instrument for tracking the implementation of the measurable targets.
The Federal Government's DAS Monitoring Report reports on climate impacts and adaptation on the basis of measured data and presents the changes that have taken place in the past and at present. The 2023 monitoring report provides information on the 16 areas for action of the DAS. The technical basis of the monitoring report was developed in collaboration with more than fifty federal and state authorities, universities and professional associations.
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