Federal Government to Warn Population Better in Extreme Weather Events, Increase NINA App Users by 30%
According to the new climate adaptation strategy of the German federal government, the population is to be better warned in the event of extreme weather events, and the number of users of the NINA warning app is to be increased by 30%. This is reported by the newspapers of the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (Tuesday editions) and is to be decided in the cabinet on Wednesday.
The document states, “Severe weather events like the heavy rainfall and flooding event in western Germany in the summer of 2021 have repeatedly shown the high importance of early and effective warning of the population.” There are still “gaps in the technical transmission of warning messages”.
As a target, the “increase of the NINA app users by 30%” is mentioned. The current number of users is around 12 million, it is said, which should be achieved through further advertising of the app and information campaigns. The more than 300-page strategy for adapting to climate change consequences has been developed under the leadership of the Federal Environment Ministry.
“For the first time, we are setting measurable targets and indicators to make the progress in dealing with climate consequences, such as increasing heat and heavy rainfall, transparent and controllable in the future” said Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Green) to the RND. “Now it’s about implementing the strategy decisively, so that it can unfold its effect for the protection of people in Germany and our economic well-being.”
In the document, it is also specified that there will be more cooling green spaces near workplaces and residential areas in the future. The plan is to identify city areas that, due to their location and the type of development, have a lack of climatic benefits, it is said.
In general, the municipalities are to expand and improve their climate adaptation measures. Specifically, the plans of 80% of the municipalities, which are committed to climate adaptation in the framework of the Climate Adaptation Act, are to be available by 2030. To better grasp the costs of climate consequences, the federal budget will be regularly increased – every two years from 2026.