Overview

• Governing Mayor Kai Wegner has pledged that no trees will be felled for turbines in Grunewald and criticized the federal law in a letter to Economics Minister Katherina Reiche.
• The environmental organization Nabu has backed Wegner’s stance on Grunewald and urged him to also oppose proposed wind sites in Jungfernheide, Blankenfelde and Krummendammer Heide.
• A new federal statute obliges Berlin to earmark 0.5 percent of its land for wind energy by 2032 and prescribes rigid area targets.
• Officials have mapped out eight potential wind energy areas across the city but the Berlin Senate has not yet approved any sites.
• Nabu warns that safeguarding forests is essential to preserving natural CO2 sinks even as the capital strives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.