Energy Expert Vahrenholt: Hamburg’s Zero CO2 By 2040 Is “A Fundamental Attack On Prosperity”

“Catastrophe in the Making”

Hamburg’s lunatic referendum result will devastate it as an industrial city, ban conventional heating systems…add 350 euros a month to residential rental costs by 2040!

In a recent interview with Apollo News, published just after the October 12th climate referendum in Hamburg, Germany, climate expert and former Hamburg Senator for the Environment Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt provided a scathing assessment of the city’s decision to pursue climate neutrality by 2040, calling it a ‘Catastrophe in the Making’.

Will mean an end to the city’s prominence

Vahrenholt immediately labeled the outcome—approved by just 23% of eligible voters—as a “catastrophe.” Vahrenholt, a member of the SPD socialist party, argues that making Germany’s largest industrial city carbon-neutral by 2040 means a devastating end to essential economic activities.

The referendum’s outcome will effectively ban diesel-powered container ships and forces the closure of production in aluminum, copper, steel, and the city’s refinery operations.

Ban of conventional heating systems

Beyond industry, the resolution dictates a shift away from gas and oil heating and bans combustion engine vehicles. Prof. Vahrenholt warns that the necessary retrofitting and conversion of housing will result in average rent increases of approximately €350 per month, a significant burden on tenants.

Other experts comment that most of Hamburg residents don’t realize what the decision will really mean.

Huge price…absolute zero impact on global climate

From a geopolitical standpoint, Vahrenholt argues that Hamburg’s climate goal is completely ineffective, noting that since Hamburg contributes a tiny fraction (0.001%) to global CO₂ emissions, the city’s savings will simply be burned elsewhere in the world, where gas and oil become cheaper due to reduced demand. The practical outcome, he stresses, is that the city’s industry will lose its competitiveness. Jobs will be outsourced to other parts of the world, like China or the US, where production is cheaper, thus undermining the local economy without benefiting the climate.

Hamburg mayor caters to yuppies – must resign

As a long-time member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which historically championed the working class, Vahrenholt directed his harshest criticism at the current political leadership. He accuses Hamburg’s Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) of “dodging” and failing to issue a single critical statement during the crucial decision-making process. Vahrenholt claims this negligence was the main reason the referendum narrowly passed.

Citing a “fundamental failure” in a critical question that impacts thousands of workers and tenants, Vahrenholt outright demanded the mayor’s resignation.

SPD socialists have long alienated working class base

The climate and energy export attributes the party’s current stance to a structural change in its membership, arguing the SPD has alienated its working-class base and is now dominated by young, urban professionals who “live off the work of others.” In his view, the SPD has deliberately chosen to subordinate the interests of industrial workers to the “climate diktat.”

“Madness” will be rejected

Despite the law being passed, Vahrenholt is convinced that the resolution will not stand. He predicts that once the “actual madness” and “fundamental attack on the prosperity” of the city’s residents become tangible—when heating bills skyrocket and jobs vanish—there will be a “fundamental rollback.”

He expects the citizens to hold the supporting parties (the ruling coalition of SPD and Greens) politically accountable, stating they will be kept far away from the city’s levers of power for years to come.

Vahrenholt is not alone. Other critics, who see a silver lining, have pointed out that Hamburg will serve as the sacrifice city that will showcase to the rest of Germany the absurdity of mandating a carbon-free society.