The hard-coal-fired HKW Nord power plant produces more CO₂ emissions annually than all the cars and heavy vehicles in Munich put together and yet the plant was planning to stay operating until 2035 The power plant burns 800,000 tons of hard coal annually, releasing poisonous mercury in the process. Hard-coal mining causes huge destruction of the natural world and violates human rights all over the world. The imported coal is transported halfway around the globe from USA and Russia before it is unnecessarily burnt here in Germany. In order to stop this degree of climate devastation, we formed a broad alliance in 2017 to achieve success via a local referendum.

With a broad alliance of Munich volunteers and NGOs, we collected 52,000 signatures to a People’s Petition – enough to carry out a local referendum. The referendum that resulted from this initiative “Stop Using Hard Coal” led to success in November 2017, with 60.4 % of eligible EU voters in Munich voting in favour of the People’s Petition.

However, the shut-down scheduled for 2022 has not yet occurred, after the Munich City Council, in view of the energy supply bottlenecks caused by the war in the Ukraine, decided to renew the operating life of Unit II of the hard-coal power plant.

Protect the Planet provided personal and intensive support on many levels for the People’s Petition “Stop Using Hard Coal” to ensure the early closure of the HKW hard-coal power plant in the North of Munich. By leveraging our network, we were able to engage the support of additional prominent supporters and fellow campaigners.

Closing down the old coal-fired power plant is the most important and affordable climate-change measure we can take in Munich and has the potential to achieve more than all of the combined efforts and campaigns of the past.

The efforts made were huge and the joy upon seeing the great outcome of the referendum was even bigger. But the fight is not yet over. For Munich City Council has decided to allow the power plant to operate until at least 2026. However, it does intend to close it down well before 2028. The clear and unequivocal intention of People’s Petition has been undermined by this decision. Climate protection is not absent for lack of public will – it is rather the result of political failure.