on walls...

I went to vote in the referendum on whether legislation should be passed to make Berlin climate neutral by 2030. The referendum failed because quorum wasn't reached. Turnout was low, only 35.8% of eligible voters took part. I thought it was really hard to miss the campaign so I don't think there were any real excuses not to vote. The thing that really surprised me was that of those who bothered to come out and vote on a rainy Sunday, 48.7% voted against it. I fully blame the politicians and the press for the failure to explain to people why it is so important to deal with climate change. Yes, decarbonising housing is going to be expensive. However, the money isn't simply burnt. It is used to improve housing, making it cheaper for people to run the heating and a lot of the money will be spent on wages of those who to the work and produce the technology. Reducing traffic makes cities more pleasant and healthier places to live and reduces financial burden on individuals. Those who absolutely have to travel by car will find it easier when there are fewer cars about. 75% of Germans live in cities, so reducing traffic should be quite possible. Housing and transport make more than 50% of Germany's emissions. These are low-hanging fruit. Obviously, an individual's efforts have a negligible impact, even a city like Berlin will barely make a dent in the emissions on the global scale. However, the symbolic character of the German capital moving forwards and deal with climate change would have been massive. Instead, the media and politicians convinced people that we can continue like we have before. It's a great shame and we have to continue our individual efforts without the help of systemic change. There is a Plan B.

I did go for a nice walk in Kreuzberg to checkout some graffiti. I even found a Youtz one that very much reminded me of Edinburgh (see extra).

Some more pictures are as always on flickr.