Mayor Katja Dörner welcomed the decision and emphasized that it reaffirmed the urgency of climate adaptation. "With Bonn's climate plan, which aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2035, we are doing our part to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement. But the global climate crisis is already making itself felt here in Bonn and the region - for example through flooding, long periods of drought and more extreme weather events. In order to be prepared for this, we need a strategy and concrete measures," said the Mayor of Bonn.

The city's activities should be geared towards different goals. To this end, the administration will calculate the cost of implementing targeted measures, prepare the resolution by the council and its specialist committees, inform and involve the public. The implementation status will be reported on every two years.

The basis for this is the current planning data on the core areas of heat, drought and heavy rainfall for the entire urban area. The extensive information available on heat prevention (planning information map) and water-sensitive urban development (sponge city concept, heavy rain and flood hazard maps) shows, for example, where action needs to be taken, which risk areas and which compensation areas worthy of protection exist.

The goals of climate adaptation include

• Heat prevention: the climate functions of areas with a high and very high need for protection should be largely preserved.
• Drought prevention: The natural water cycle should be strengthened and more rainwater should be used decentrally.
• Heavy rainfall prevention: Potential risk factors should be reduced in order to minimize damage caused by flooding as a result of heavy rainfall events.
• Vulnerability: At-risk groups in particular should be exposed to less heat in order to reduce heat-related illnesses and deaths.

The city of Bonn has already initiated numerous activities in the field of climate adaptation, including the climate-friendly redesign of Budafok Park, the greening funding program and the numerous structural measures to prevent heavy rainfall. The focus of the concept to be developed is, among other things, on taking stock of the projects that have already been implemented and identifying key areas for action. With an implementation-oriented agenda of measures, climate adaptation in Bonn is to be concretized and gradually implemented in the urban area. Further information is available on the Internet at  www.bonn.de/handlungsmoeglichkeiten-klimaanpassung. (opens in a new tab)