Alliance publishes demand paper on parliamentary elections in 2026
Berlin, 21.05.2026: The ecological and social energy and heat transition will be a focus of Berlin's politics in the next legislature. It offers opportunities for clean air, affordable warmth and a more livable city – if the political course is now set correctly.
The Berlin Renewable Alliance has formulated proposals on how the capital can meet its climate commitments in the building sector while preventing energy poverty. Members of the alliance include Fridays for Future Berlin, BUND Berlin, Greenpeace Berlin, PowerShift, Gesellschaft für Klima und Demokratie, xberg klimaneutral and the Berlin Energy Table. The demands are supported by the state association of environmental consultants in Berlin and Brandenburg.
First of all, Berlin needs a new energy and climate protection programme, which will be developed again in a civil society participatory process for the implementation period 2027-2032 and will be bindingly adopted by the House of Representatives as soon as possible on this basis.
In district heating, there is Use of large quantities of wood, waste or hydrogen neither ecologically nor socially meaningfulExplains the alliance. The combustion of valuable raw materials, which will continue to be scarce in the future, drives up heat prices further. Berlin Renewable therefore demands that No other wood-fired power plants were built. and the use of existing ones is limited to a minimum (winter operation and peak load). In addition, the district heating network can only be extended if additional combustion-free renewable energies can be used for this purpose.
Instead, the alliance strikes a consistent expansion of combustion-free heat sources before. A central role was played in this Cold local heating networks. The latter could supply large parts of Berlin with heat and cold efficiently and cost-effectively in the long term. Berlin must set up a sufficiently equipped, long-term secure support, oriented towards the citizen energy fund Schleswig-Holstein, and above all take community-oriented and cooperative citizen energy operators into account.
In addition, Berlin calls for renewable more democratic participation in the heat transition. Tenants in particular have so far had little influence on decisions about energy-efficient renovations and heat supply. In order to enable good co-determination, the Alliance proposes, among other things, that: set up climate advisory boards at the large heat network operators BEW, FHW Neukölln and BTB, advise on ongoing decarbonisation planning and ensure that measures are transparent, socially fair and majority-capable.
With the receivables paper, Berlin Renewable is aimed at parties and candidates for the 2026 parliamentary election. The alliance calls for a binding political course for a socially just and climate-politically consistent heat transition. These include, among other things, an accelerated expansion of renewable heat sources, more democratic participation in the heat transition and better protection against rising heating costs. The current heating policy of the Berlin Senate fails to meet these goals.
The entire claim paper can be found here: https://www.berlinerneuerbar.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Forderungen-zur-Wahl-2026.pdf
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact:
- Neelke Wagner, PowerShift e.V. +49 (0)1575 2466 920
- Björn Obmann, Society for Climate and Democracy e.V. +49 (0)171 1700 272
About Berlin Renewable
Berlin Renewable is an alliance of organisations and individuals active in climate policy in Berlin. Under the name ‘Kohleausstieg Berlin’ (Coal phase-out Berlin), the alliance fought for the early phase-out of coal in Berlin and continues to advocate for a climate-friendly Berlin.
