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The northern German city of Hamburg has been awarded the title of “European Green Capital 2011” by the European Commission. Through a set of different measures, the shipping hub proves how, despite being a highly industrialised port city, it is possible to successfully combine economic growth and environmental sustainability. The year has kicked off with several initiatives which could be an interesting source of inspiration for the United Arab Emirates, a regional leader in its efforts to develop a sustainable business model and greener cities in the future.

The city’s approach overall is especially interesting because Hamburg is a dynamic economic metropolis that realised it had to act in the field environmental protection as well, in order to stay competitive. Herlind Gundelach, head of Hamburg’s Ministry for Urban Development and the Environment, underlined the city’s efforts by saying that “as a major industrial region, comprising Europe’s third biggest port, Hamburg faces considerable challenges as regards environmental protection. It is therefore our turn and our duty to strategically link the economic and the ecological spheres”. During 2011, as many citizens as possible are going to be encouraged to get involved in the measures devised in the framework of Hamburg as Europe’s Green Capital.

The start of the Green Capital year has been marked since the beginning of January with the opening of several exhibitions. Other events included arts performances, panel discussions and a celebratory opening event for the general public in front of the town hall. Other projects include for example plans for the sustainable extension of the public transport system and for a canopy to be set up to cover the A7 motorway in the heart of the city. In addition, large-scale urban development projects, such as “HafenCity Hamburg”, the International Building Exhibition IBA 2013 and the International Garden Show igs 2013 serve to show how sustainable city planning can work in a busy metropolis as well.

Further emphasising its ambitions, Hamburg has already made many big commitments to the field of renewable energy, which is the city’s fastest-growing economic sector. For instance, 60 percent of the know-how available on wind energy in worldwide is located in Hamburg and the neighbouring South of Denmark. Moreover, the world's largest wind turbine company, Vestas, has recently relocated its Central Europe division to Hamburg. Also, one of the world's leading wind power plant suppliers, the Nordex Group has built a new facility at the port, in cooperation with the public energy supplier “Hamburg Energie”. The goal of the latter is to deliver only that type of electricity to Hamburg’s citizens, which is carbon neutral and free of nuclear power. This field is intended to be one of the most important components of the city’s strategy, which has set a goal that is unique worldwide – namely to reduce Hamburg’s CO2 emissions by 40 percent by 2020, while staying competitive and economically successful. This initiative could be viewed with a lot of interest across the Middle East, and in particular in the United Arab Emirates, where per capita CO2 emission rates stand at one of the highest levels in the world, while maintaining its thriving business scene is also vital to the economy of the Emirates.

Moreover, various other wind and solar companies are working on increasing their presence in Hamburg over the next few years, further emphasising the city’s efforts. Furthermore, German company Siemens, which opened its European headquarters for wind power sales and project execution in Hamburg in 2009, also acted as a sponsor of the initiative “Hamburg – European Green Capital”. In addition, the northern German hub is also expected to become home to the headquarters of the environmental organisation Greenpeace.