This German City Is Redesigning Itself As Climate Change Brings More Heat, Floods And Storms

Edited
by:
Je ife
Colli s

I
Octobe
2023,
the
wo st
sto m
su ge
i
mo e
tha
150
yea s
hit
the
Baltic
Sea
coast.
It
dest oyed
dikes,
collapsed
coastal
cliffs
a d
devastated
ma i as
i
the
o the
Ge ma
state
of
Schleswig-Holstei
a d
pa ts
of
southe
De ma k.

The
catast ophic
su ge
wiped
away
2.68
mete s
(8.79
feet)
of
coastal
bluff
i
Kiel,
a
po t
city
a d
Schleswig-Holstei ‘s
capital.
That
was
mo e
tha
fou
times
the
yea ly
ave age
lost
ove
the
p evious
two
decades.

Huma -caused
climate
cha ge
is
supe cha gi g
ext eme
weathe
such
as
sto ms.
A d
i
coastal
cities
like
Kiel,
the
co seque ces
a e
al eady
impossible
to
ig o e.

“The
impacts
of
climate
cha ge
a e
ha dly
abst act
i
Kiel,”
said
Ma ti a
Baum,
who
heads
the
city’s
climate
adaptatio
divisio .
“Si ce
at
least
the
2023
sto m
su ge,
we
have
all
bee
emi ded
of
the
p ofou d
effects
it
ca
have
o
us,
o
ou
daily
lives,
a d
o
the
e vi o me t
a ou d
us.”

Those
effects
a e
fo ci g
Kiel
—
amo g
the
fi st
cities
to
decla e
a
climate
eme ge cy
back
i
2019
—
to
ethi k
its
desig ,
a d
how
it
wo ks.
It
has
si ce
become
a
f o t- u e
i
adapti g
to
the
ealities
of
a
cha gi g
climate,
establishi g
Baum’s
divisio
i
2025
to
help
make
the
city
mo e
esilie t
to
weathe
ext emes
a d
adopti g
a
adaptatio
pla
i
Feb ua y
2026
to
step
up
those
measu es.

Is
climate
adaptatio
givi g
up
o
fighti g
climate
cha ge?

Fo
city
officials
like
Baum,
adaptatio
is
ot
a
substitute
fo
cutti g
the
fossil
fuel
emissio s
heati g
the
pla et.
Climate
p otectio
emai s
the
fi st
li e
of
defe se,
because
limiti g
wa mi g
will
educe
futu e
damage.

“Fo
a
lo g
time,
the e
was
hesitatio
to
e gage
officially
with
the
issue
of
climate
cha ge
adaptatio .
I
also
felt
u easy
about
it
at
fi st,
because
it
felt
as
though
it
would
somehow
take
the
p essu e
off
climate
p otectio
effo ts,”
Baum
told
DW.

But
the
move
to
adaptatio
i
Kiel
eflects
what’s
happe i g
i
othe
cities
a ou d
the
wo ld
f om
Sa ta
C uz
i
the
US
to
Quezo
City
i
the
Philippi es,
as
gove me ts
i c easi gly
p epa e
fo
the
impacts
of
heat,
heavie
ai fall
a d
st o ge
sto m
su ges
that
a e
al eady
he e.

That
does ‘t
mea
climate
p otectio
a d
adaptatio
always
alig .
I stalli g
powe -hu g y
ai -co ditio i g
i
housi g,
dayca e
o
se io
ce te s,
fo
i sta ce,
p otects
vul e able
people
i
heat
waves.
But
it
i c eases
e e gy
co sumptio ,
“which
would
u
cou te
to
climate
p otectio
goals,”
Baum
said.

“Eve
if
we
use
e ewable
e e gy,
dema d
is
ot
yet
cove ed
by
e ewable
sou ces
100%
of
the
time,
so
a y
additio al
e e gy
we
co sume
will
ultimately
esult
i
the
emissio
of
climate-damagi g
g ee house
gases,”
she
added.

Redesig i g
cities
fo
u avoidable
impacts

While
AC
will
sometimes
be
ecessa y,
Kiel
is
wo ki g
o
solutio s
that
cool
the
city
atu ally.
It’s
addi g
vegetatio
to
buildi g
facades,
edesig i g
a
pa k
to
cha el
coole
ai
i to
the
city
ce te ,
a d
maki g
it
easie
fo
eside ts
to
access
pe mits,
i fo matio
a d
g a ts
fo
adaptatio
p ojects.

The
city
is
also
testi g
which
t ee
species
ca
su vive
futu e
co ditio s.
A
decade
ago,
Kiel
pla ted
five
specime s
each
of
20
diffe e t
species
to
fi d
out
which
ca
best
withsta d
heat,
d ought
a d
salt
sp ay
f om
the
ea by
Baltic
Sea.

T ees
p ovide
shade,
cool
st eets
by
oughly
1.5
deg ees
Celsius
(2.7
Fah e heit)
a d
imp ove
ai
quality,
but
ot
eve y
species
will
th ive
as
the
climate
cha ges.

“The e
is
o
o e-size-fits-all
climate
t ee;
diffe e t
sites
equi e
diffe e t
t ee
species,”
said
Nicole
Holz,
who
wo ks
i
the
depa tme t
espo sible
fo
the
city’s
g ee
spaces.

The
esea ch
equi es
patie ce.

“It’s
goi g
to
take
some
20,
30
yea s
u til
you
get
some
eal
esults,”
said
Pet a
Holtappel,
head
of
the
same
depa tme t.

Livi g
diffe e tly:
No
mo e
daytime
socce ?

Adapti g
to
climate
cha ge
will
also
equi e
cha ges
to
daily
life,
said
Baum.
Child e ,
fo
example,
may
o
lo ge
be
able
to
play
socce
tou ame ts
at
3
p.m.
because
it’s
too
hot.

Although
Kiel
is
getti g
wa me ,
it
is
expected
to
fa e
bette
tha
much
hotte
cities
i
Southe
o
Ce t al
Eu ope
whe
it
comes
to
heat.
Still,
the
city
is
vul e able
to
mo e
sto m
su ges
a d
heavy
ai
a d
eeds
mo e
ete tio
a eas
to
ma age
all
that
excess
wate .
The
city
is
d edgi g
the
pa k’s
po d
to
sto e
sto mwate
du i g
heavy
ai fall,
but
is
also
explo i g
othe
ideas.

“O e
idea
is
what’s
k ow
as
multi-use
desig ,
mea i g
that
i
futu e,
a
socce
pitch
could
be
built
slightly
lowe
tha
the
su ou di g
a ea.
Du i g
pe iods
of
heavy
ai ,
wate
could
the
be
di ected
the e
a d
allowed
to
g adually
i filt ate
i to
the
g ou d
o
evapo ate,”
Baum
said.

The
dow side
is
the
pitch
might
be
u usable
fo
up
to
60
days
a
yea ,
she
added.
But
eside ts
would
eed
accept
that,
said
Baum,
who
emphasized
the
eed
fo
g eate
public
debate
about
adaptatio
measu es.

How
to
each
people
who
do ‘t
thi k
about
the
climate?

Helpi g
eside ts
u de sta d
those
t ade-offs
a d
what’s
at
stake
is
pa t
of
A af ied
Stü me ‘s
wo k.
Stü me
o ga izes
educatio al
eve ts,
leads
public
excu sio s
with
scie tists
a d
atte ds
eighbo hood
fai s
to
meet
people
who
might
ot
othe wise
e gage
with
climate
issues.

At
Kiel
Week
i
Ju e,
the
wo ld’s
biggest
a ual
saili g
eve t,
Stü me
displayed
a
map
showi g
city
flood
isk
f om
ext eme
ai fall.

“People
ofte
fi d
that
i te esti g,
because
it
does ‘t
immediately
seem
like
it’s
co ected
to
climate
cha ge.
I stead,
the
i itial
eactio
is
,
‘Wow,
if
we
get
o e
of
those
i te se
heavy
ai fall
eve ts,
my
house
could
be
i
se ious
t ouble,’
o
‘My
backya d
could
e d
up
flooded,”
Stü me
said.

Stü me
has
ofte
fou d
it
easie
to
talk
about
climate
adaptatio
tha
about
climate
cha ge,
because
the
fo me
is
mo e
ta gible.

“It’s
easie
to
talk
about
the
eed
fo
a
bette -developed
sewe
system
to
ha dle
heavy
ai fall,
o
about
pla ti g
diffe e t
types
of
t ees
a d
vegetatio ,
tha
it
is
to
talk
about
educi g
CO2
emissio s,”
Stü me
told
DW.

Rece t
eco d
heat
waves
have
made
the
adaptatio
co se vatio
mo e
u ge t
too.

“People
oticed
that
it
had ‘t
bee
as
hot
befo e,”
she
said,
addi g
eside ts
i c easi gly
ecog ize
the
eed
to
p otect
child e ,
the
elde ly,
p eg a t
wome
a d
outdoo
wo ke s.

Climate
adaptatio
ot
‘optio al’

Eve
with
g owi g
public
awa e ess
of
the
eed
fo
adaptatio ,
fu di g
emai s
a
p oblem
i
cash-st apped
Kiel.
Still
see
as
optio al,
climate
actio
ca
quickly
come
u de
p essu e
whe
budgets
tighte .

“I
disag ee
with
the
idea
that
climate
adaptatio
a d
climate
actio
a e
optio al
espo sibilities.
I
keep
aski g
myself:
what
a e
the
alte atives?”
Baum
said.
“Afte
all,
it
has
bee
demo st ated
time
a d
agai
that
i vesti g
i
climate
adaptatio
a d
climate
mitigatio
will
simply
pay
off.”

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