Statement against burning Namibian bushwood in German heat and power plants

Joint Statement against the import of Namibian bushwood for use in power and heat plants in Hamburg

Hamburg, 9th October 2020 – The Hamburg Ministry for Environment and Energy and Wärme Hamburg GmbH (the heat production and distribution company owned by the City of Hamburg) are currently assessing a proposal to import large quantity of Namibian bushwood for energy generation. This is based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) dated 2nd June 2020. The bushwood would be used in heat and power plants in Hamburg, for example in Tiefstack.

The project contradicts the principles approved by Hamburg’s energy network referendum on 22nd September 2013. The referendum voted in favour of a “mandatory target of a socially just, climate-friendly and democratically controlled energy supply from renewable sources.” Importing Namibian bushwood for energy is clearly not climate-friendly. This is due not just to the long transport distance but also to the land use changes in Namibia that would result from it.The proposed project is not socially just. Industrial-scale bushwood harvest in Namibia would create some new jobs, but destroy many existing jobs in bushwood removal, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. Unemployment is already extremely high in Namibia, and there is no public social security for those unemployed. Corporations based in the global North, on the other hand, would profit from the project by selling machinery and transport vehicle and acquiring resources (i.e. wood). The vast majority gains from the value chain would thus occur outside Namibia. On the other hand, the processing and use of bushwood inside Namibia would create many new jobs.

According to the timetable set out in the MoU, a public discussion in Hamburg is only expected once an in principle decision has been made. The referendum vote, however, required democratic control. In Namibia, important stakeholders and civil society have so far not – or not adequately – been involved in the discussions.

The German Development Cooperation GmbH (GIZ) and the Hamburg Ministry for Environment and Energy (BUKEA) are on the wrong path with this project that they are pursuing. It would involve replacing hard coal – which harms the climate and has highly problematic social impacts – with a no less problematic use of biomass for energy.

We demand a rapid transition to a 100% renewable heat system, without the import of biomass from the global South both – in Hamburg and elsewhere.

The signatories of this statement therefore reject the project “Transcontinental Biomass Partnerhsip Namibia-Hamburg“ proposed by GIZ and will oppose it being realised.

Signatories from Germany:

ARA (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Regenwald und Artenschutz e.V.)Wolfgang Kuhlmann, Geschäftsführer

Arbeitskreis HAMBURG POSTKOLONIAL

Centre for Econics and Ecosystem Management at Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development and at Writtle University College, Prof. Dr. Pierre Ibisch und Prof. Peter Hobson

Denkhausbremen e.V., Peter Gerhardt, Geschäftsführer

ecodevelop, Hans Christian Offer, Geschäftsführer

Ende Gelände, Ortsgruppe Hamburg

Forum Ökologie & Papier, Evelyn Schönheit, Umweltwissenschaftlerin

Forum Umwelt und Entwicklung, Jürgen Maier, Geschäftsführer

Hamburger Energietisch e.V, .Bernd Liefke, Vorstand

Lehrstuhl „Globale Klimapolitik“ an der Universität Hamburg, Prof. Dr. Franziska Müller, Tobias Kalt, Imeh Ituen, Nina Glatzer

NaturFreunde Hamburg e.V., Helene Hohmeier, Vorsitzende

Rettet den Regenwald e.V., Marianne Klute, Vorsitzende

ROBIN WOOD e.V., Heike Schoon, Vorstand

University of Kassel, Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof. Dr. Aram Ziai, Heisenberg-Professorship Development and Postcolonial Studies – Executive Director Global Partnership Network

Signatories from outside Germany:

Biofuelwatch UK/US, Almuth Ernsting, Co-Director

Earthlife Namibia, Bertchen Kohrs, Chair

Fern, Katja Garson

Global Forest Coalition, Simone Lovera, Executive Director

9 Oct, 2020
Posted in Petitions and statements, Forests and Climate Change