Mr President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very pleased to welcome representatives from some thirty European metropolitan regions - even two from the United States: from Washington and Columbus/Ohio.
Many of you have visited Hamburg before, since Hamburg has been actively involved in METREX for some time now. After we joined the organization in 2007, Hamburg organized the METREX conference on Climate Change in 2008, as well as the one on Inclusion in 2009. Hamburg has chaired two working groups as well, one on greenhouse gas reduction and the other on metropolitan-rural relations. Both groups will deliver their final reports during this meeting.
I want to extend a particular warm welcome to the Secretary General of METREX, Mr. Roger Read from Glasgow, who has been to Hamburg quite often, too. Mr Read, you were among the first to recognize the importance of metropolitan regions. And so it is to you that we owe the founding of METREX as an institution of exchange thus its name, METRopolitan Exchange back in 1997.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your deep commitment to METREX and its members for almost 15 years. Topics involving metropolitan regions have successfully been placed on many agendas throughout these years. And there is some hope that Europe will finally recognise the importance of metropolitan regions within the framework of its future regional policies.
The Hamburg Metropolitan Region is a cooperation of three Federal States Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and 14 districts or counties which we call Kreise. Some 4.3 million people live and work in this region, enjoying a high quality of life within a dynamic economic zone.
In the spring of 2012, the region will be growing, as we will be incorporating an additional Federal State Mecklenburg-Vorpommern plus another two Kreise and two larger self-governing cities. One of these is Lübeck, the medieval capital of the famous Hanseatic League. The new members want to be part of the regional cooperation because they will benefit from this.
As you all know, organizing a metropolitan region means joining forces to cope with globalization. But let us look at this phenomenon from a different angle: A metropolitan region is a partnership of one or more key cities and a broader region. In fact, it is a metropolitan-rural cohesion project on equal terms and for mutual benefit. Trust and cooperation between urban and rural areas is the key to success for a metropolitan region. This new approach to European cohesion policies has proven to be successful in a number of metropolitan regions.
Last November, the Hamburg Metropolitan Region therefore declared rural-urban partnership to be one of the four pillars of the cooperations strategic aims. The other three pillars are: Dynamic economic zone, Green region and Infrastructure and transportation. In our view, these four pillars fit extremely well into European cohesion policies.
Throughout Europe, an ongoing debate is being conducted on how to newly define cohesion with a view to the Europe 2020 strategy. In Hamburg, we appreciate the fact that wide-ranging European policies exist that benefit cities and regions. Nevertheless, we believe that these policies should be developed further after 2013 with a clear place based focus. It is important to seize the opportunities provided by metropolitan regions.
- We therefore recommend viewing metropolitan regions, as well as their non-metropolitan hinterlands, as fields for action. We ask Europe to provide funding in order to encourage rural-urban partnerships the first pillar.
- We would like Europe to support cluster-building processes originating in metropolitan regions and to stimulate cooperation by abolishing bureaucratic obstacles dynamic economic zones, the second pillar.
- We would like Europe to understand metropolitan regions as patterns for the polycentric integration of Europe, by means of traffic routes and the expansion of gateway infrastructure in metropolitan regions, and to support linking these gateways with other metropolitan regions - Infrastructure and transportation, the third pillar.
Last but not least, the response to climate change will be most important, as the potential effects may have far-reaching consequences. This requires regional adaptation and mitigation strategies the fourth pillar, Green region.
- Based on this, future EU regional policies should providfacilitate conducting pilot or model projects and encourage EU member states to consider a national equivalent.
Ladies and gentlemen,
let me emphasize the importance of a large city like Hamburg for the region around it. Without a strong city with its infrastructure and its economic potential, a metropolitan region would, of course, be without its essential centre. This is why the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg constantly strives to improve in all ways. The better we perform, the better this will be for the metropolitan region. Organising the transfer of this benefit is the task of the different actors in politics and administration, as well as the different stakeholders in the private sector.
This can work out well. The fact that the Hamburg Metropolitan Region is one of Germany's three strongest regional economies is proof of this, with half of the businesses and companies based within the City of Hamburg, and the other half located throughout the region. But only balance between strong economic development and a sustainable, liveable region will ensure the continued success of the region and enhance its attractiveness, both internally and externally.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
in many ways, the Hamburg Metropolitan Region is a green metropolitan region, and it is doing well coping with climate change.
Since the 1980s, Hamburg has been implementing a climate and environmentally friendly policy. Urban green areas and nature reserves, resource efficiency, water protection, mobility, and, of course, climate protection and climate change are all of great value for us.
For these and many other achievements, we were chosen for 2011 to be one of the first two cities to ever receive the title of European Green Capital. This title is a great honour, one that acknowledges the prospective concepts and hard work of many decades. We want to continue to honour this commitment in the European Green Capital year, but also beyond it, because we know there are many challenges ahead. Hamburg will use the opportunity it has as the European Green Capital to show that a modern metropolis can be environmentally friendly, socially balanced and livable.
As the European Green Capital, Hamburg strives toward ongoing improvement in the urban environment. We are developing strategies for further development involving our citizens.
We need to achieve a transition in energy use and production. Hamburg is advancing toward becoming a metropolis of renewable energy or even the European Capital of wind energy and hydrogen power. With approximately 160 companies, Hamburg is already one of the leading and growing locations for renewable energies in Germany. These include large plant manufacturers in the field of wind and solar power, but also providers of green electricity.
The renewable energy industry in Hamburg has experienced a very positive development. The region has been able to attract a number of major companies, especially for wind energy. This, of course, is partly due to the growth of the off-shore wind energy sector. In the past months, companies such as Gamesa Wind, Dong Energy, and Areva Wind have set up new offices in Hamburg. Furthermore, last week Siemens announced that they were moving their wind energy division to Hamburg. This is a great success for Hamburg, one that sends positive signals to the entire Metropolitan Region. In the field of off-shore wind energy, cooperation between the Northern German locations is certainly possible over the coming years, especially when companies looking for offices in Hamburg for their headquarters, R&D departments, etc., at the same time need large production spaces in the surrounding areas. The joint development work for the renewable energy sector is actively supported by the Renewable Energy Hamburg cluster.
We offer environmentally friendly mobility and we are expanding the underground and S-Bahn system. We are striving to provide the most modern and environmentally friendly bus fleet in Europe. Modern individual means of mobility, such as electric mobility, car sharing, environmental taxis and rental bike system, also help to promote climate protection.
And, this year, we have already managed to expand the area of nature reserves. To date, almost 8.5 per cent of the total area of Hamburg counts as nature reserve.
As to our climate targets, we are contributing to the national reduction of CO2. We are aiming at a 40 per cent decrease by 2020 and an 80 per cent decrease by 2050. These are very ambitious goals, but still feasible, providing that everyone participates and economy and ecology cooperate. In this field, Hamburg presents the unique example of the Hamburg Eco Partnership. Currently about 800 companies are participating as Eco-Partners, by introducing climate goals and committing voluntarily to extensive CO2 savings and resource efficiency. We are planning to increase the number of participating companies to 1.000 by the end of 2013.
Ladies and Gentleman,
among our core objectives are promoting dialogue and working on concrete concepts for the sustainable city of the future. This includes high level conferences, such as the First International Environmental Law Day or the Green Port Congress - and today´s conference on European metropolitan areas.
Large Cities play an important role in the future of our society. We are all aware that cities are both main polluters and producers of CO2. At the same time, cities are the centres of innovation and creativity. This is why cities hold the power to develop strategies in climate and environmental protection.
As for Hamburg, together with the Metropolitan Region, we feel honored to be the coordinating Lead partner of the EUCO2 80/50,which is currently the most important European climate protection initiative. And it was initiated by METREX! The outstanding results of this project will be presented to you tomorrow by Senator Horch.
Today, I would like to thank all of the stakeholders that are involved. 14 European Metropolitan Areas have made an enormous financial commitment, and Hamburg has contributed four years of manpower in addition. We were all convinced of the necessity of the project, so we went ahead despite the fact that the European Union refused to allot the funds we requested. The results are outstanding. We now have a tool which allows authorities to check the amount of CO2 reduction brought about by specific measures. We have a practical tool which delivers facts and figures on a common basis, so that the results can be compared with each other.
It is, however, most important to focus on the people we serve: the citizens. To cope with challenges like the prevention of damage to the environment, we need to change our mentality. What we need to achieve is the daily green capital. This means reaching out to the willingness of each and every person to be more environmentally conscious and to permanently change their behaviour. This applies to every individual as much as to the economy and to politics.
This is what we are doing with the Train of Ideas, which has recently returned to Hamburg after having visited 17 cities. It has already inspired more than 38.000 visitors.
And Hamburg itself is very much inspired by other cities´ projects that can be seen at the exhibition.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We believe that environmental protection is not a fashionable add on, but a necessity for the cities and for their metropolitan areas.
As the European Green Capital, Hamburg is convinced that protecting the environment will create jobs, increase knowledge, and enhance the quality of life for all citizens.
I wish you a successful conference.
Es gilt das gesprochene Wort.