First Ver.di climate summit in Hamburg

On 20 November 2024, corsus moderated the first ver.di climate summit at Kaispeicher Hamburg. The event was organised jointly by ver.di and the ver.di education centre. Stadtreinigung Hamburg was also represented and offered examples of its work in a virtual simulation that participants were able to try out.

The aim was to raise participants’ awareness of the comprehensive topic of climate change and climate impact adaptation in the world of work. To this end, trade union courses of action were considered, as were specific sector policies. The focus was on the co-determination levels and on the question of how an ecological transformation of the world of work can be socially organised.

The day was opened with words of welcome from Ole Borgard, deputy regional director of the ver.di regional district of Hamburg. Current developments in the global climate and the urgent need for action were vividly presented by weather and climate expert Frank Böttcher, Chairman of the German Meteorological Society. Mr Böttcher took part in the subsequent panel together with Jens Kerstan, President of the Ministry for the Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture, Prof. Dr Kerstin Kuchta, Director of the Institute for Circular Resource Engineering and Management at Hamburg University of Technology, and Christoph Schmitz from the ver.di Federal Executive Board. Under the key question ‘Social and ecological sustainability – contradiction or opportunity?’, the invited speakers discussed legal options in Hamburg, emerging opportunities for the circular economy, new job profiles and digitalisation, as well as the role and requirements of trade unions in relation to the social design of an ecological transformation. Jan Schwartz from Hamburger Energienetze GmbH provided input on the planned IPCEI hydrogen project in Hamburg. Bernd Lange, Member of the European Parliament, and Mr Schwartz then answered questions from the audience on the topic of ‘Hydrogen – energy source of the future?’.

Participants were then invited to share their views, ideas and questions on co-determination and socio-ecological transformation with regard to climate change in the areas of mobility and supply and disposal in residential neighbourhoods. Here, too, there were keynote speeches at the beginning: by Markus Montag (SRH) on waste disposal via eco-hubs and by Julian Ehret on the ‘wir fahren zusammen’ campaign. Finally, the participants were able to take part in an informative environmental quiz, the results of which were presented live and explained by the moderator. The climate summit was brought to a close by Anja Kramer, bildungswerk ver.di and Ole Borgard, who thanked everyone.

corsus would like to thank the education organisation ver.di. for commissioning the event and for its cooperation. The climate summit was sponsored by ‘Wandel der Arbeit sozialpartnerschaftlich gestalten’.