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Article - Climate Change Mitigation

The Climate-neutral Federal Administration Coordination Office (KKB) Introduction

Introduction

Under the Federal Climate Change Act, the Federal Government is seeking to organise the federal administration on a climate-neutral basis by 2030 and to achieve net greenhouse gas neutrality in Germany by 2045. The federal administration is to lead by example. This is explicitly stated in the Federal Climate Change Act and the Climate Action Programme 2030. In December 2019, the Federal Government, represented by the state secretaries’ committee on sustainability, set up a special body tasked with working towards a federal administration which is organised a climate-neutral basis by 2030: the Climate-neutral Federal Administration Coordination Office.

Coverbild des Grünbuchs Energieeffizienz; Quelle: BMWi

© BMWK

The Coordination Office covers many different areas. A core part of its mandate is to draw up a programme of measures which contains specific and necessary rules on climate neutrality for the federal authorities. In order to measure the progress made towards achieving this important goal, the Coordination Office is compiling an annual climate footprint for the federal administration, with 2022 as the baseline year.

In addition, the Office has a strong focus on networking. It works with other institutions to develop specific proposals and collects ideas and best practice examples in the relevant fields of action (see link below) to eliminate or at least reduce carbon emissions in the daily administrative work. Also, the Office engages in regular dialogues with the federal ministries and the Länder in order to draw on the different experiences to develop new ideas on the road to climate neutrality and to enhance the way the administration serves as a role model. This includes supporting the federal administration as it introduces environmental management systems like EMAS or LUMASplus.

The federal administration serves as a role model on the path to climate neutrality.

Approx. 130
Symbolicon für Wachstumskurve

institutions

More than 4,500
Symbolicon für Netzwerke

federally-owned properties

Approx. 43,000
Symbolicon für Elektroauto

vehicles

More than 300,000
Symbolicon für Menschen

employees

110
Symbolicon für Servierwagen

canteens

Immediate measures

Immediate action by the Coordination Office

The federal authorities have been implementing climate action and energy efficiency measures since well before the war in Ukraine disrupted the energy markets. By introducing energy and environmental management systems, the authorities have developed the skills and structures needed to systematically measure and analyse energy consumption in federal properties and devise appropriate measures.

Based on this experience, the Coordination Office was able to put forward ten immediate measures in June 2022, in response to the war, by condensing proposals from all the ministries. These were then recommended to the federal authorities to be assessed and implemented on a voluntary basis. In the winter, these measures and the provisions on public non-residential buildings set out in the Ordinance on Securing the Energy Supply through Rapid Impact Measures, which were in place until April 2023, were supplemented by the ‘winter update’.

For the autumn/winter period of 2023/2024, the Office recommends continuing the immediate measures and the provisions of the Rapid Impact Measures Ordinance, which has since expired. This is to help the authorities maintain their level of commitment in terms of reducing carbon emissions and continue to lead by example.

It is important for the authorities to undertake additional efforts for raising awareness among, providing training to and motivating their staff. This also includes involving cleaning and security personnel. Widespread acceptance among all the responsible stakeholders is needed if the Federal authorities are to implement further measures on the path to achieving climate neutrality by 2030.

You can find an overview of the energy conservation measures for the federal authorities recommended by the Coordination Office here:

Climate footprint

Programme of measures and climate footprint

A sound data basis is indispensable for determining the climate footprint. The challenge is to identify and process major sources of emissions and sinks as comprehensively as possible, whilst keeping the list manageable for the federal authorities. Here, the Office is orienting its work to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The initial federal administration climate footprint consists of Scope 1 emissions (direct emissions), Scope 2 emissions (indirect emissions), and emissions caused by travel on official business (indirect greenhouse gas emissions from upstream and downstream processes). The Office has set up a concept to standardise the emission-related data in the federal administration. This IT-based collection of data was trialled for the first time for the year 2021. Based on this experience and follow-up improvement procedures, the Office will conduct the first ever climate footprint for the year of 2022, which is to help the federal administration reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a targeted manner.

The following diagram illustrates the emission sources and sinks identified in Scope 1, 2, plus emissions from travel on official business, for the federal administration’s climate footprint:

Emission sources in the federal administration

Fields of action

The fields of action relevant for a climate-neutral federal administration

The Coordination Office networks and works closely with the other ministries and their agencies in order to make the federal administration greenhouse gas-neutral. The central issues covered by the fields of action are:

Federally-owned properties

Due to their energy consumption, the various properties owned by the federal administration are major producers of greenhouse gas emissions. In order to ensure that the greenhouse gas emissions from heating and powering these properties can be reduced to net zero, measures to bring down the amount of energy consumed and transition to less emission-intensive or even emission-free sources of energy are required. Smart room designs can combine climate aspects and agile methods of working.

Mobility

This field of action covers the aspects of vehicle fleets, travel on official business and travel to work.

In order to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality in this field, the questions for federal authorities and companies are very much alike: How does a vehicle fleet have to be organised so that emissions are kept as low as possible? Should all travel on official business take place by rail? And how can low-emission travel to other countries be organised? How can it be made more attractive for federal employees to come to work by bicycle, e-bike or public transport and thus make these trips as climate-neutral as possible.

Events

The broad portfolio of events in the federal administration ranges from working meetings attended by external visitors to open days and large-scale multi-day events with participants from all around the world. In this field of action, authorities need to answer the following questions: What characterises a particularly climate-friendly venue? How can emissions from travel to and from the event and accommodation-related emissions be minimised? How does climate-friendly catering work?

Procurement

According to estimates by the OECD, the public sector in Germany purchases goods and services worth around €500 billion a year, with the federal administration alone accounting for €30 billion of this. This means that the public sector is the largest purchaser in Germany. How can this demand-side power be used to reduce GHG emissions in a targeted manner? What needs to be done? And can these procurement-based carbon emissions be included in the climate footprint? How can a shadow carbon price be used to inform economic efficiency analyses in a way that makes sense?

Canteen management

From electricity consumption to the selection and preparation of meals, through to the handling of food waste – all these aspects are being considered in the field of action looking at canteen management. It always makes sure that any measures are feasible for the canteen operators and takes account of the interests of the people using the canteens.

Compensation

The priority in all the fields of action is to avoid greenhouse gas emissions where possible or reduce them. The Coordination Office is working on a compensation concept for the federal administration to cover cases where greenhouse gas emissions are unavoidable. Until greenhouse gas neutrality is attained, the compensation serves as an interim solution with a view to organising the federal administration in a climate-neutral manner by 2030 in line with section 15(1) sentence 1 of the Federal Climate Change Act.

EMAS & LUMASPlus

Support for the introduction of EMAS / LUMASPlus

The Coordination Office is helping the bodies of the federal administration to introduce environmental management systems like EMAS and LUMAPlus. The Climate Action Programme 2030 stipulates that all the supreme federal authorities and other federal authorities at a further 300 sites must introduce one of these systems. For this purpose, the Office initiated two ‘convoy procedures’ in 2021, where small groups of authorities are given advice by a professional consulting firm to prepare for the introduction of such a system. Federal authorities can now also access support services for the introduction and maintenance of environmental management systems under the EMAS Regulation on the Federal Government’s electronic procurement platform (Kaufhaus des Bundes). And they can also receive expert evaluation and training services for EMAS certification under a number of dedicated framework agreements concluded by the Procurement Office of the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

Dialogue at international level

Dialogue and cooperation at international level

Germany and many other countries are driving forward the transformation of the economy and society, not only by making sure that their administrations lead by example, but also by using their clout as large purchasers of goods and services.

Greening Government Initiative

In order to promote networking and learn from one another, the Greening Government Initiative (GGI) was launched at the initiative of the U.S. at COP 26 in Glasgow in 2021. Germany was one of the first countries to join. The Initiative now has around 50 members, and the Office is participating in the well-established dialogue formats on best practices and current climate policy challenges.

Net-Zero Government Initiative

Under the Net-Zero Government Initiative, which was initiated at COP27 in 2022, the signatories have committed to making their administrations climate-neutral by no later than 2050. The Initiative stresses the responsibility governments have to lead by example in tackling climate change given their role as large energy consumers, vehicle fleet owners, real estate holders and purchasers of goods and services. With its goal to achieve net zero in its federal administration by 2045 or sooner, Germany is one of the Initiative’s more ambitious members. 30 countries from different parts of the world have joined the Initiative thus far.

Initial signatories of the Net-Zero Government Initiative together with Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry at the COP27 launch event in Sharm El Sheik. Germany was represented at the event by Parliamentary State Secretary Stefan Wenzel.

Initial signatories of the Net-Zero Government Initiative together with Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry at the COP27 launch event in Sharm El Sheik. Germany was represented at the event by Parliamentary State Secretary Stefan Wenzel.

© US Embassy Cairo

Roadmap towards a climate and greenhouse gas neutral federal administration

At COP28 in 2023, the members of the Net-Zero Government Initiative presented national roadmaps setting out each country’s path towards greenhouse gas neutrality. This was accompanied by a special event at COP28. The roadmaps can be accessed on the Initiative’s website. Germany’s roadmap sets out the Federal Government’s plan to organise its administration on a climate-neutral footing by 2030 and to achieve net zero by 2045. It lists the most important measures that the Federal Government is currently using to meet these goals.