At a launch event organised by the GRÜNE LIGA Berlin, the Berlin State Working Group for Nature Conservation (BLN), BUND Berlin, GRÜNE LIGA Berlin, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, NABU Berlin and a tip:tap founded the Water Network Berlin today. The civil society network sets unprecedented goals until 2026 to advance the urgent improvement of watercourses, lakes and groundwater in the city.
The water network is the answer to the growing water and biodiversity crisis in Berlin: all the running and still waters studied are blocked, polluted or drying up. Over 50% of them are in an ecologically unsatisfactory to poor condition. "We have joined forces to make water protection a priority in Berlin and to ensure that visible progress is made citywide," says Manfred Schubert, Managing Director of BLN, which is supporting the project.
Water law permit for Jänschwalde opencast mine expired at the turn of the year
Cottbus, 04.01.2023. The permit for the Jänschwalde open-cast mine to pump groundwater expired on 31.12.2022, but the open-cast mine will apparently continue to operate without a new permit. This creates facts in a legal vacuum, criticises the environmental network GRÜNE LIGA.
"Since 1996, all parties involved knew when the permit would expire, but a decision on the time after that has not been made until today. The coal company LEAG has delayed the procedure with late and incomplete applications and is not prevented by the mining authority from creating further facts. It is very difficult to believe in the rule of law here," says René Schuster of the GRÜNE LIGA.
Thursday, 19 January 2023 from 10.00 to 17.00
Friday, 20 January 2023 from 9.30 to 13.00
in bUm - Betterplace Umspannwerk , Paul-Linke-Ufer 21, Berlin
We cordially invite you to the Lakes Conference 2023. Too little attention is still paid to lakes, wetlands and their catchments as carbon sinks and biodiversity hotspots. Lakes continue to be overexploited, peatlands drained and wetlands not rewetted as required. With the Lakes Conference 2023, we want to strengthen the focus on these valuable habitats and at the same time broaden the perspective for contributions to natural climate protection in Germany and beyond.
Biodiversity goals in danger?
Positioning of the AG-Wasser on hydropower development and river restoration against the background of the biodiversity goals and the climate crisis
on 08.12.2022 14:00 - 17:00 CET
According to the WWF's Living Planet Report, the global population of wild species has declined by 69% since 1970. At 83%, the loss of species in lakes, rivers and wetlands is even more dramatic. Environmental associations, anglers and other organisations have joined forces at the European level to form the Living Rivers Coalition in order to halt this trend and reverse it. With the Green Deal, the Water Framework Directive, the Biodiversity Strategy and the recently proposed Nature Restoration Law, good instruments have been and are being developed at EU level to achieve this goal. At the same time, the expansion of renewable energies is being pushed forward on a large scale. In the course of this, there are increased efforts to streamline the planning requirements for infrastructure projects, in particular also by directly undermining nature and water protection regulations. This, with the intention of counteracting the climate crisis, further exacerbates the European and global biodiversity crisis.
The sustainable use and equitable distribution of water is one of the most pressing problems of our time. At the same time, scarce freshwater resources and their associated ecosystems are being overexploited, polluted and damaged all over the world. Whether water will still be sufficiently available and drinkable in the future, and who will have access to it, depends more than ever on political decisions around water use. To discuss these challenges, we cordially invite you and your colleagues to an online seminar. Details on the programme and registration can be found below.
Programme
14:00: Welcome
Jürgen Maier, Forum Environment and Development
14:10: Presentation of the FUE position on hydropower
Thilo Papacek, CounterCurrents
14:40: "Break Free" - Restoring river ecosystems by dismantling transverse structures
Michael Bender, Living Rivers Foundation
15:10: Commentary on the Renewable Energy Directive by WWF
Tobias Schäfer, WWF
15:40: Hydropower in development cooperation
Jutta Himmelsbach, Misereor
16:15 h: Break
16:30: Hydropower to hydrogen? The Inga III Project
Salomé Elolo, Femmes Solidaires
Registration: roth (at) forumue.de
The event will be held in German with English translation.
You can find the invitation here: www.grueneliga.de/images/Wasser/FORUMUE-AGWASSER-81222.pdf
Unsealing at the Fennpfuhl - NABU - Aktionsnetz Kleingewässer
23 November 2022
Meeting place: On the south-eastern side of the Fennpfuhl in Lichtenberg
Start: 9 am | Coordinates: 52°31'42.1 "N 13°28'30.0 "E
Soil absorbs rainwater, stores moisture, supplies plants with water, cools the environment through evaporation, provides a habitat for soil organisms, plants and animals, and contributes to a good climate with vegetation - if it is not sealed. In the Fennpfuhlpark we will reactivate these numerous soil functions. To do this, we will unseal an area of about 20 m2 and then plant it with insect-friendly wild shrubs. We will provide the necessary tools and gloves.
We look forward to your active support!
Registration at jschlaberg (at) nabu-berlin.de or by phone 030/986083735
Water Newsletter
Always up to date on the topic of water protection with the Wasserblatt. With short news items and an extensive nationwide list of events, the Water Bulletin of the Green League provides monthly information on current events in the water sector. Subscribe free of charge to the water bulletin distribution list at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and receive the water bulletin with the latest news by e-mail every month.
You can find more information about our info distributors here.
All issues of the Water Newsletter 2022:
Water Newsletter May 2022 (pdf 1,6MB)
Water Newsletter April 2022 (pdf 379 KB)
Water Newsletter March 2022 (pdf 642 KB)
Water Newsletter February 2022 (pdf 550 KB)
Water Newsletter January 2022 (pdf 319 KB)
All issues of the Water Newsletter 2021:
Water Newsletter December 2021 (pdf 2,3 MB)
The GRÜNE LIGA Federal Contact Point Water has been a member of the EEB's Water Working Group for over 20 years and is a founding member of both the Water Working Group of the Forum Environment and Development and the "Living Lakes Germany" network.
Michael Bender represents the GRÜNE LIGA as an observer at the International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe (IKSE).
In 2021, the cooperation between the GRÜNE LIGA and the Living Rivers Foundation was intensified and a joint office was established at the federal association.
Together with the GRÜNE LIGA Berlin, we were active in the Aktionsnetz Kleingewässer Berlin, in 2022.
Since January 2023, the GRÜNE LIGA Berlin e.V. is partner in the pilot project Wassernetz Berlin. We will organise 24 dialogues at water over 3 years (around 8 per year) to raise awareness of the public on the issues faced by water bodies and offer training in their management (biodiversity, physical and chemical status, etc.), as well as helping our partners in the project to prepare for the enhancement and restoration measures that will be implemented in the framework of this pilot project. You can find the schedule of dialogs on our events page.
On the European level, the GRÜNE LIGA e.V. is also member of the European Water Movement. The EWM aims at reinforcing the recognition of water as a commons and as a fundamental universal right.
On a global level, the GRÜNE LIGA e.V. is also involved in the People's Water Forum, a coordinating space for Water Justice Movements around the world.