Overview

• About 1.3 million voting documents were sent to eligible residents, with in-person voting on Oct. 12 from 8:00 to 18:00 at 185 locations and postal ballots accepted until 18:00.
• By Oct. 2 the city had received 288,167 postal votes, equal to almost 22% of those eligible.
• The Zukunftsentscheid would advance Hamburg’s climate‑neutrality target to 2040, imposing annual CO2 caps, regular monitoring with corrective programs, sectoral limits and safeguards on cost pass‑through to tenants.
• City‑commissioned analyses say the 2040 goal is technically feasible but would require replacing fossil‑fuel heating, decommissioning the gas network, faster building retrofits and sweeping shifts in transport and industry.
• Nearly all parliamentary parties and major business groups oppose the initiative, while Fridays for Future and a broad civil‑society coalition support it; a separate ballot proposes a basic‑income pilot.