Overview

• CDU floor manager Heiko Melzer said the coalition plans to adopt the citizens’ draft in essence, with remaining questions to be settled by the main committee on October 17.
• The initiative now pegs overall financing needs at about €3.2 billion using a federal special fund plus EU and federal grants, down from estimates above €7 billion.
• Revised accounting that stops booking ten years of upkeep in the planting year trims the headline total by €877 million, and changes to planting methods and better maintenance are cited as further savings.
• The draft envisions several hundred thousand additional trees by 2040, with the initiative outlining a path toward as many as one million across the city.
• If the bill is not passed on November 3, a referendum drive would begin, as the current budget proposal cuts tree-care funds the initiative wants restored and adds requests for 2026–2027 outlays.