Ms Garmendia,

Mr Roussel,

Mr Söderholm,

Mr Lange,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The environmental quality of a major city is not just an abstract concept. In fact, it is synonymous with that city’s quality of life. It has a direct influence on the physical and mental well-being of the people who live there. And it impacts each and every individual’s opportunity to develop and to find fulfilment, as well as his or her prospects for the future. 

There are many challenges involved in good environmental policy. At the end of the day, it is measured by how well it is able to protect, improve and sustainably maintain its residents’ quality of life.

Hamburg is the European Green Capital 2011.” We feel that this title is not only a sign of recognition, but also a reminder of our responsibility. I am very pleased that the Intelligent Cities Expo,” which opened yesterday, is taking place for the first time in our city, here at Messe Hamburg, thus contributing to our year as the Green Capital.

How intelligent can cities be? What kinds of smart grids” can they develop for the transmission of energy and otherwise within the city and interlinked with one another? You and the entire city of Hamburg will be looking for the answers to this question during this fair.

Good environmental policy has had a long tradition in Hamburg, one that was always at its best when it proved its ability to initiate, promote and gain acceptance for technical innovations. When too much emphasis was not placed on symbolism, and when the moral and often ineffective rhetoric of sacrifice was not exaggerated. But rather, when we relied on intelligent technology and showed that we believed in the ability of our engineers to find solutions.

And this is how I see modern environmental policy. Germany is a country with a long-standing tradition of engineering. Intelligent growth driven by engineering is what we need again now. This will enable us to deal with climate protection and find answers to the question: How can we develop alternative energy sources while we are phasing out nuclear power?

Cities, especially large cities, have the responsibility of being innovative in this area and of making use of the most advanced options the art of engineering has to offer. Large cities are able to do this. They are able more than any other place to serve as fascinating laboratories for our society. And it is important to remember that, on every continent, urban life has its own options, opportunities and advantages that rural life cannot offer.

But the cities have a responsibility. They are confronted with serious environmental problems some of which they have created themselves. They must play a pivotal role in global efforts to make careful use of resources and energy, to adapt to climate change, or at least to try to slow it down.

By 2025, almost 60 percent of the population will be living in metropolitan areas almost five billion, as opposed to 3.3 billion today many of them in mega-cities with a population of more than five million. Even today it is said the cities consume over 80 percent of all used resources, although they only account for just under three percent of the earth’s surface.

Of course, one could point out that the cities are the centres of industry, trade and commerce and, as such, provide what the country needs, too, and that these statistics would look very different if they were calculated according to the polluter-pays principle. On an international basis, the comparability is limited in any case. In our part of the world, for example, heating buildings will soon be consuming the most energy again even if winter may seem far away at the moment. So it is this area that also offers the greatest potential for energy savings. There is good reason that the fair is concentrating on this topic in many areas, especially in the Intelligent Buildings and Homes” segment.

The problems in other parts of the world are very different. It would certainly be inappropriate for Hamburg to see itself as a role model for cities all over the world, just because it is the European Green Capital. But Hamburg can help to demonstrate the fact that growth and environmental quality are not mutually exclusive.

Hamburg is the capital of wind power in Germany, and it is in a position to demonstrate the advantages of new methods of heat insulation and energy conservation, transporting merchandise on waterways, and climate protection through the more efficient use of energy. And more and more businessmen are discovering in euros, dollars, and other currencies the enormous financial opportunities that are offered by environmental protection, and by the economical use of resources.  Hamburg’s Eco-Partnership demonstrates this impressively.

Environmental protection has also been a significant economic factor for some time now. This must be the case, for we do not believe that protecting the environment and making our city more powerful as an economic centre are a contradiction. Moreover, our efforts are focused on uniting these two objectives so that, wherever it is possible, they can catalyze one another.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Please do not think that I am trying to minimize the problem of objectives that are bound to clash, such as regarding competition for land use, noise, or the expansion of roads. But this makes it all the more important for us to take advantage of the opportunities that can result from the development of new technologies. Just think of the modifications that had to be made to vehicles so that they could use unleaded fuel, and the catalytic converters to reduce the toxicity in exhaust emissions. Without these, there would either be no forests left in Germany today or no private cars.

Just the same, whenever technical innovations are successful and are actually launched on the market sometimes with a little help from politicians and lawmakers they gain acceptance very quickly. And this is partially due to the fact that, in our cities, thinking in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility is a natural part of our lifestyle today.

There is so much more: cars with low fuel consumption, products made out of recycled material, green electricity, organic foods. Only if they are accepted on the market will it be possible to step up the development of innovative processes and additional ecologically compatible products and processes.

As you can see, the art of engineering, the willingness to invest, and astute policies all of this produces a smart grid, one that is thriving in Hamburg.

As far as the transition in energy sources is concerned, Hamburg has the potential to use it to its best advantage. We have an opportunity to join forces with other states in the northern part of Germany, and to become one of the world’s leading locations with our renewables”  cluster. Over one hundred companies are already generating revenue of five billion euros per year with renewable energy. This is where the jobs and the profits of the future are to be found.

This fair and this conference will also help, by bringing together energy providers and private companies, project developers, investors and city governments. It is interesting to note that 60 percent of the exhibitors come from the area around our city, 20 percent from Germany south of the Elbe River, and 20 percent from other countries.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A few minutes ago, when I said that cities have the responsibility of protecting, improving, and sustainably ensuring the quality of life of its inhabitants, I meant every one of them. Many of them live in our numerous nature sanctuaries, on remaining fallow land, or in the forest. And we want to protect their future as well.

If a large port city characterized by industry, with a population of almost 1.8 million and innumerable animals living in the wild, is able to combine ecological sustainability with economic growth, this is reason enough for it to attract public attention. As the Green Capital 2011, we want to serve as an example of the fact that the cautious use of natural resources can provide a basis for economic and social development that will be stable in the long-term.

I am looking forward to hearing of any and all new discoveries, products and practical solutions.