German Government and DIHK launch "Partnership for Climate Protection, Energy Efficiency and Innovation"

The German Government and the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) have launched a new partnership as the basis on which to jointly address the challenges of climate protection and improving energy efficiency in the German economy. Through the partnership, the Federal Environment Ministry (BMU), via its Climate Initiative, is supporting a broad-based project being run by the DIHK and the German chambers of industry and commerce (IHKs). The Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) and KfW Bankengruppe are providing funding to facilitate access to advice and consultation on energy efficiency as well as low-interest loans from the Special Fund for Energy Efficiency in SMEs.

The aim of the partnership is to encourage companies to greatly increase their investment in energy efficiency and climate protection. This investment is already economically viable. The schemes operating via the partnership are targeted directly at companies in order to create additional incentives for energy efficiency - which for many companies is a key factor in overcoming the current crisis more quickly and positioning themselves well in the subsequent competition.

No company can manage without energy, so measures to boost energy efficiency pay off in every case. In many enterprises, depending on size and sector, there is considerable scope to make savings, sometimes by as much as 30%.

The first pillar of the partnership is the launch of KLIMASCHUTZ UNTERNEHMEN (Companies for Climate Protection) - German industry's climate protection and energy efficiency coalition. Member companies stand out not only by mainstreaming energy efficiency and climate protection in their corporate strategies and monitoring the savings made, but also because they undergo audits at regular intervals. Members of all different sizes and from as many sectors as possible serve as role models, showing that energy efficiency and climate protection pay off. With their examples of best practice, they are ideally placed to convince other firms of the benefits of energy efficiency and climate protection and encourage them to follow suit.

The second pillar of the partnership is an information and training programme from the DIKH and the German chambers of industry and commerce. The information programme encourages companies to explore energy efficiency and climate protection issues by facilitating on-site access to the chambers' energy coaches. As the key element of this process, the energy coaches undertake site visits and identify opportunities for companies to access energy efficiency advice and other appropriate support programmes, training or information events. The training programme provides grants to train company staff members as energy managers (IHK).