Photo: böhringer friedrich (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Berlin, March 15, 2026: The Building Modernization Act (GMG) planned at the federal level as a replacement for the still valid Building Energy Act (GEG) forces the Senate and coalition to act.
According to the According to the Federal Environment Agency’s 2025 climate balance presented on Saturday, emissions in the building sector nationwide in 2025 were 103.4 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents. This corresponds to one Increase of 3.4 million tons of CO₂ equivalentsalthough the numbers should go down.
And Central climate protection instruments at the federal level should be turned back in the interests of the fossil fuel industriesthe Berlin state level must be essential intervene more strongly in climate and heat policy.
Otherwise it’s not just a threat further falling behind on climate protection goalsthe capital’s tenants will also be one exposed to incalculable fossil cost risk. This is what they are currently showing prices skyrocketed in the wake of the Iran war fossil energy sources.
The fossil fuel rollback in the boiler room not only weakens climate protection in buildings, but also makes it more difficult to phase out heating with natural gas. But the future belongs to combustion-free technologies – also in heating networks.
That’s exactly why Berlin needs it clear guidelines for the heating transition. Next to one binding decarbonization path for district heating Politics must specifically strengthen renewable alternatives. These include in particular: local district heating networks without combustion technology – for example based on geothermal energy, waste heat, large heat pumps or solar thermal energy – that so far too little political support receive.
The BUND Berlin calls for heat planning Renewable and efficient solutions are systematically prioritized, fossil dependencies are reduced and households are effectively protected from rising heating costs. Without clear political control, Berlin’s heating transition threatens to become one costly and climate-politically risky dead end to advise.
Further information:
The article “The Anti-Modernization Law” is available at: https://umweltzoneberlin.de/das-anti-modernisierungs-gesetz
Contact:
Matthias Krümmel, climate protection policy advisor at BUND Berlin, Tel. 030-78 79 00-63, kruemmel(at)bund-berlin.de
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