Our election platform for Berlin

Chapter 1: Inspire Berlin!

Donut with currywurst

At the same time, we support all stakeholders who are committed to sustainable and climate-friendly business practices. The donut economy offers an excellent framework for this: because it places the well-being of people and the protection of the planet at the center of all considerations and actions. Let's make the donut the new currywurst! With the participation of the citizens, we take the ideas for a fair economy of the 21st century into the neighborhoods. And we keep the big picture in mind.

The needs of Berliners are considered together with those of other people, living beings and ecosystems near and far. Armed conflict is incompatible with climate protection. For this reason, we are also committed to disarmament and an active peace policy. Conflicts must be solved without violence - in our city as well as internationally. We reject the production and export of so-called armaments.

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Chapter 2: Fair changes for Berlin

Enough with the waste

Let's finally tackle the rubbish problem radically. Waste must be avoided. It must not be a business sector. And it must not be exported simply to shift the problem. We want to bring the federal government, the states and industry to the table to quickly find new regulations that are long overdue. This includes new packaging systems, plastic bans in the entire food sector, deposit systems and an effective recycling system.

The existing Senate's zero-waste approach needs more traction and must be cast in justiciable ordinances. Here, too, the motto is: rather acting than talking. With us, there will be no more littered streets, squares and parks. Willful littering of our city will be consistently penalised.

Water for life

Our water calls for more attention, too. Since Berlin's drinking water is partly obtained from the bank filtrate of the Spree, coal mining in the Lusatia region poses a massive threat to its quality. For years, water from other sources has had to be added in order to comply with the legal thresholds for heavy metals. Politicians have so far kept quiet about the dramatic consequences for all of us. We are changing that. Together with the federal government, Brandenburg and industry stakeholders we are developing a step-by-step plan to safeguard Berlin's drinking water. Prices can only be kept stable through determined action. In this context, Berlin's sewage treatment system will also be brought up to date. We ensure the comprehensive expansion of the fourth purification stage, which removes pharmaceutical residues from the water.

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Chapter 4: Strengthen Berlin – Power to the People

Act local, think connected

We need to think outside the box. Berlin's climate-friendly urban redevelopment needs numerous new collaborations. Brandenburg is at the top of the list. Businesses and institutions based there will be invited at all levels to participate in Berlin's energy transition. Berlin and Brandenburg are already linked by a close partnership at the administrative level. Other sectors are to follow: Food, transportation, industry, education, urban and regional development, recreation, environmental protection, water, air - but also political administration. This new symbiosis will become a model for further partnerships. With neighboring EU countries and other pioneers of climate protection, we are exchanging experiences and jointly developing sustainable ideas. Because progress only succeeds through dialog.

Digital-sustainable model city

We see the comprehensive digitization of the economy and society as an opportunity to make our coexistence more inclusive, social and sustainable. To this end, we are tackling key challenges that have so far been completely ignored in political Berlin. By establishing a free and open WLAN network within the S-Bahn ring, we are curbing the double network expansion (mobile and wired). This will create a socially just, municipalized broadband Internet supply throughout the city. We are creating independence from the (market) interests of non-European players with data protection-oriented and energy-efficient data centers. And we are committed to realizing a digital self-sovereign identity (SSI) for citizens.

Existing and newly planned data centers are directly integrated into the city's heat cycle. In this way, we use waste heat and reduce energy consumption. We implement close monitoring of the rebound effects of digitization measures and promote the acquisition and operation of digital end devices from the most sustainable production possible. The purchase of remanufactured devices is preferable to buying new ones. Berlin companies should regularly provide information on the energy efficiency of their products and services and on the degree of their "dematerialization," i.e., their dependence on physical products such as paper or fossil resources. In addition, we want to investigate ways in which Berlin's businesses can transparently and fairly measure their efforts toward climate-positive business practices and how the state can appropriately value and promote these efforts. We position ourselves against any form of (increasingly energy-hungry) surveillance technology and data retention. We vehemently oppose the introduction of such measures.

Zebras instead of unicorns

Berlin must use its attractiveness and appeal to prioritize social and sustainable business models. Social entrepreneurs and sustainable initiatives will find all the necessary conditions in Berlin from now on to start with full support, to network effectively and to act with maximum impact. We are establishing a "Social Impact Fund" to support non-profit businesses and initiatives with a focus on the common good and climate justice. We follow the example of "Nesta" in the UK, which uses so-called dormant assets: the unclaimed account balances of deceased persons without heirs.

We support efforts to establish new, sustainable business models (e.g., in so-called steward-ownership). We will also implement the Wuppertal Institute's concept of alternative "Economic Development 4.0" on a large scale to promote local and small-scale sustainable economic cycles. We support the corresponding initiatives to create suitable legal foundations. We will also create comprehensive interfaces in the areas of administration and public infrastructure that enable the inclusion of and cooperation with Berlin's business community, especially social startups, as well as independent experts. A consistent focus on the use of open source software and hardware is mandatory, so that independent experts can gain insight into energy efficiency and security at any time and participate in the further development of digital public services. We also want to create incubators for system innovation for the use of the interfaces mentioned above and for the further development of the social foundations of urban and global coexistence.

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Chapter 5: Bringing Berlin together

Good food for everyone

Balanced nutrition is the basis for a healthy life. This begins with the production of food: regenerative, organic and regional for all we want to make the standard. Berlin and Brandenburg are self-sufficient together. In the city, permaculture gardens at public institutions and urban gardening are particularly suitable for this. The use of herbicides and pesticides is prohibited - even in allotment gardens. We further promote biodiversity by planting at least 25% of all green spaces in an insect-friendly way.

No waste of food

Grocery stores and restaurants will no longer throw away their leftover food. They will be required to donate it or make it freely available to the public. This can be made possible through donations to the food bank, through so-called fair share distributors, or by legalizing dumpster diving through federal law.

To tackle the problem at its root, the overproduction of food will be successively reduced. To this end, we are promoting the direct supply of food to end consumers from farms in Brandenburg.

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Chapter 6: Berlin radically new

A donut for Berlin

Hand on heart: Wealth and luxury at the expense of others has always been suspicious to Berliners! In our city, the focus is not on money, but on people. Namely, with comprehensive social security and respect for the limits of our ecosystem. The Donut Economy thinks local and global economy together with social responsibility and creates a balance that takes the pressure of the permanent meritocracy out of the system, makes the city livable for everyone and enables future generations to feel comfortable here.

Building on the donut experience of Amsterdam and in close partnership with other donut pioneers, we are making Berlin a model city of transformation. We are setting up a "Donut Action Lab", designed by the Berliners themselves. They will determine the framework conditions of their economy in a participatory process. Based on the results, legislation and funding policies will be realigned. All existing and planned public investment and subsidy programs must be put to the test. Anything that does not serve the goal of climate justice will be cleaned out. Berlin has what it takes to set an international example. To this end, we are bringing our economy on board as a driver of social and ecological renewal. Climate- and socially-just urban renewal means more meaningful work, more appreciation for systemically relevant professions, and a critical approach to bullshit jobs, destructive subsidies, and unlimited growth insanity.

The city is bursting with active, committed people and entrepreneurs with forward-looking, sustainable ideas. We take them seriously. We make them strong. We support businesses with a common good orientation that are not based on the exploitation of people and nature. This includes cooperatives, commons and other types of solidarity-based and not, or not primarily, profit-oriented economic activity. We work to ensure that a stable legal framework exists for all these forms of economy. Loss-free material flows of the circular economy become the standard.

Berlin does it itself

We put a stop to the destructive cycle of consumption and throwing things away. We bring a repair and exchange café to every neighborhood, financed by the state. Here, Berliners can get free help repairing things and find workshops for DIY. These "Maker Spaces" function as the common property of the neighborhoods. Here, people can swap, tinker, restore and learn together. Another advantage: These places also become neighborhood depots where residents can pick up and drop off their packages.

Budgeting instead of endless growth

An end to the growth spiral and out of the hamster wheel. Full employment in classic gainful employment within the framework of an endlessly growing meritocracy is not ecologically justifiable and is detrimental to human well-being. We are driving forward mobile working, thereby reducing unnecessary travel and stress. In this way, an estimated half of the office space in Berlin can be dismantled and repurposed: for housing, for community. We are pushing the federal government to abolish the commuter allowance. Professions with high mobility requirements (e.g., mobile care, skilled trades) should be integrated into new mobility plans at an early stage. We systematically promote meaningful employment with added value for people and the climate (meaningful work) and regional economic structures. We create incentives for lifelong learning and support new activities, occupational fields and skilled workers that are essential for the climate-friendly transformation.

Taxing bads not goods

To accelerate the transition to a climate-friendly economy, our tax system must be made fit for the 21st century. In line with the principle of "taxing bads not goods," we are campaigning at the federal level for a radical tax reform that is geared to the common good. Accordingly, climate-damaging production and consumption will be taxed more heavily, while climate-friendly production and consumption will be priced little or not at all.

Growth must not be a state goal

Our economic system, built on growth, is partly to blame for the increasing destruction of our livelihoods. It can therefore not be part of our state policy objective. We push for the removal of the growth paradigm from all legally binding treaties and laws. Instead, we will include the protection and equitable use of our livelihoods as a supreme state objective in the Berlin constitution and adapt the state laws accordingly.

Last but not least: We remain activists!

Experience has shown: our policies are only as good as the civil society that drives them. We are part of the climate justice movement. We see ourselves as a mouthpiece for every initiative, every association and every alliance that works for climate justice, for the transport and energy transition and for a peaceful, social and livable Berlin. Let's get into conversation with each other.

Let's build a strong community for climate and civic participation. Let's bring radical humanity to Berlin's parliaments and cast social change into law. And let's stay active and continue to fight on the streets for the climate-positive transformation of our city. Join the movement! Berlin needs you!

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