How Can We Better Address the Needs of Poverty Affected Citizens in Sustainability and Climate Policies?

Current sustainability and climate adaptation policies in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) in Germany are already considering low-income groups to a certain degree. A comprehensive study carried out in our Climate & Poverty project identifies further improvements in both fields. The results of the study are validated by a council of topic experts as well as people affected by poverty.

Sustainability is often seen only through an environmental lens. At the CSCP, we view it as encompassing environmental, social, and economic dimensions.

The social dimension can be approached from the perspective of the quality of life: are basic needs meet, how are social justice, equality, and social cohesion promoted and advanced, and do people have access to opportunities for well-being and participation in society?

With this in mind, we conducted an analysis of the sustainability strategy as well as the climate adaptation strategy of North Rhine-Westphalia. The aim? To identify potentials for poverty alleviation and risks for poverty intensification as well as develop subsequent recommendations for actions in eight cluster topics.

Our study shows that both strategies are already considering the needs of poverty affected people. However, there are blind spots in terms of unintended side effects and topics that have not been considered so far. A cross-cutting key learning is that policies should not only consider poverty affected people but also low-income groups that are above the poverty threshold but are at risk to be affected by poverty in the future. This inclusiveness is important to increase the acceptance of political decisions and avoid a distinction and rivalry between these two groups in society.

Here’s a summary of the key findings of the study:

Energy & Housing

Programmes against energy poverty and climate adaptation retrofitting in subsidised housing have the potential to reduce poverty. However, both strategies do not address potentially increasing rents due to retrofitting measures and due to gentrification in neighbourhoods with improved green infrastructure. A key recommendation is the creation of affordable housing with high energy standards.

Income and Social Subsidies

No specific measures are listed for this field but the NRW Sustainability Strategy explains the relation between low income and interrupted work biographies and old-age poverty, which mostly affect women and people with migration background. Recommendations include the extension of collective bargaining coverage to relevant sectors, compliance with collective agreements to municipalities, and adjusting basic social security to sustainable living.

Education

The biggest challenge in this field is linked to inequalities in the educational system, which is a key driver for poverty. The study calls for action on reducing youth unemployment by promoting education, especially in structurally weak areas with a focus on the transition from school to training.

Employment & Economy

Missing the re-skilling of employers in transition related job loss is not considered in the strategies and might intensify poverty. A key recommendation is to boost the employment rate among women and low-skilled workers through better childcare and qualification initiatives.

The study covers many other topics, including health, mobility, nutrition, and participation. You can download the full document and its recommendations here or visit the systems map here.

A guideline on how to read the map can be found here.

The findings of the study and its recommendations were validated in dedicated workshops held together with experts and poverty affected people in Cologne and Wuppertal, with the support of our project partners Zug um Zug and Nachbarschaftsheim in Wuppertal.

For further questions, please contact Alexandra Kessler.