According to the plan, Berlin should be climate-neutral by 2045, but the “Climate Restart” initiative wants to achieve this status by 2030. The number of votes required for a referendum has now been reached. However, the voting date remains unclear.
Next year, Berliners can vote on whether the capital should be climate-neutral by 2030. The initiative of the same name “Berlin 2030 klimaneutral” achieved the number of votes required for a referendum, as Interior Senator Iris Spranger announced after a Senate session. Accordingly, out of 254,000 signatures submitted on November 15, 180,000 are valid.
According to Spranger, the necessary quorum of 171,000 or seven percent of the signatures was thus achieved. However, the interior senator spoke out against a previously discussed merging of the referendum with the repetition of the parliamentary elections on February 12. The Berlin districts and the state returning officers see this critically, and “I agree with this opinion,” said Spranger.
The SPD politician then justified this with legal considerations and organizational problems and spoke of an appointment at the beginning of April. However, the Senate has not yet decided on a specific date. The initiative, on the other hand, advocates a common date for the repeat election and the referendum.
