Climate Protection Pays Off – For Citizens and Local Businesses
Gamification Makes Climate Protection Visible
The City of Frankfurt has officially announced the launch of the “Klima-Taler” app, an innovative instrument for the promotion of climate-friendly behavior in everyday life, which brings together climate protection, citizen participation, as well as the local economy. Whoever is traveling in a climate-friendly way or saves CO₂ in everyday life collects “Klima-Taler” (Climate Tokens) and can redeem these in the future for concrete discounts at local partner businesses. The introduction of the Klima-Taler goes back to a joint budget motion by the GREENS, SPD, FDP, and Volt for the 2024/25 double budget of the City of Frankfurt, in which the financial means and organizational foundations for the implementation were provided.
“With the Klima-Taler, Frankfurt lifts climate protection to a new, everyday-oriented level,” says Martin Huber, climate policy spokesperson of the Volt faction in the Römer. “The Klima-Taler app motivates citizens playfully to climate-friendly activities like cycling, public transport use, or energy saving and shows, by means of a point and reward logic, how much CO₂ can be saved in everyday life.”
The special added value of the Klima-Taler lies in the regional orientation. Local companies can participate, win new customers through attractive offers, and at the same time make their engagement for climate protection visible. “The Klima-Taler is intended to show that climate protection can be fun, saves money, and thereby strengthens the local economy,” Huber continues. Besides Frankfurt, surrounding municipalities are also participating in the Klima-Taler system. The collected tokens can thereby be used across municipalities, a clear advantage for the many commuters who are daily on the move in a climate-friendly way between place of residence and place of work.
The Volt faction welcomes that the city is now beginning with the building of an attractive reward network. Crucial is that diverse offers arise quickly – from retail via gastronomy up to sports, leisure, and cultural offers – so that as many Frankfurters as possible experience a direct benefit. “The more attractive the discounts, the stronger the incentive,” emphasizes Martin Huber. “If Klima-Taler could be used, for instance, for discounted tickets to sports events like games of Eintracht Frankfurt, this would unfold a particularly high radiance.”
