District - The climate and energy agency to be founded for the three districts of Fürstenfeldbruck, Landsberg and Starnberg is to be a consulting and competence center with a service function. The preparatory work is in full swing, as is the coordination process between the districts. In a zoom meeting, the three district administrators Stefan Frey, Thomas Karmasin and Thomas Eichinger discussed key issues relating to the establishment.
In addition to a draft statute, there were also questions about the composition of the committees and voting procedures, as well as the economic fundamentals in a business plan for the first five years. The latter was developed in close cooperation with the managing director of the Allgäu Energy and Environment Center, Martin Sambale, who accompanied the three districts through a so-called clearing process until the establishment. Now the essential working principles will be finalized, submitted to the legal review and then submitted to the respective district committees for a resolution, probably in the first quarter of 2022.
After the tightening of the EU climate targets and the ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, the district administrators expect a rapidly growing need for municipal advice on energy issues, on climate protection projects and the efficient use of renewable energies. As early as June and July of this year, all three district assemblies passed corresponding fundamental resolutions to advance the founding process. “Our municipalities in particular, and in the future also citizens and companies, should benefit from the agency's strong range of services,” emphasized Starnberg District Administrator Stefan Frey. The agency should therefore start work as soon as possible, ideally as early as mid-2022. "We will soon be looking for suitable staff for this," says Frey. "I'm very satisfied,that the preparations for the founding have already progressed so far, ”said his colleague Thomas Karmasin from Fürstenfeldbruck happily. "Together we are stronger", the Landsberg district administrator hopes that the agency will turn the major challenges of climate protection and the energy transition into an opportunity for the region.
The agency's goals can certainly be called ambitious and forward-looking: in addition to strategies for climate change adaptation, the purpose of the statutes also includes social awareness and a planned alliance for a greenhouse gas-neutral region. Before all of this can gradually be implemented, there are still a few hurdles to overcome: company, tax and subsidy audits and the application for funding for the foundation and first years of operation are some of the tasks currently being carried out by the Climate Protection Office at the Starnberg District Office be processed in a leading manner. The district offices' climate protection offices are already working closely together on this. Voluntary actors such as the Energiewendeverein should also be involved in an advisory capacity via an advisory board:so that the offer of the future agency is known and anchored in communities and society.
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