Gianna Grün answers the climate questionnaire

Gianna Grün moved to Berlin in 2012. Together with a team of colleagues, she’s responsible for the German Global Ideas website and the climate project’s various social media platforms.

How did you get to work today?

I always take the suburban rail network or S-Bahn. It’s my favorite mode of travel for two reasons. If you’re not quite awake in the mornings, you can nap wonderfully in the train (since my childhood, I’ve always slept especially well in anything that has a running engine). But I also like to take the suburban rail because you can observe other people. I then imagine what my co-passengers do for a living, how they came to buy the book they’re reading or what their daily lives in Berlin look like.

What do you think are some of the positive things Berlin does for the climate?

For such a large city, Berlin still has a lot of very green spaces – I think that’s wonderful. Many other metropolises are chock full of streets, houses and squares but in Berlin you can find several small peaceful oases.

What could Berlin learn from other cities and do better?

Berlin can do better when it comes to bicycle infrastructure. I went to university in the town of Münster and there I almost only used my bicycle. In Berlin, I find that too dangerous because you don’t have bike lanes everywhere and car drivers aren’t too careful either.

What do you do for the climate?

I’ve been thinking about it ever since I knew that I had to answer this questionnaire. And I have to admit that I don’t do a lot for a better climate. But I do save energy by unplugging electrical gadgets such as my television set or my computer instead of leaving them in standby mode. And when I do occasionally drive, I use my parents’ car which doesn’t have a conventional petrol-powered engine but instead runs on gas.

When was the last time you committed a climate "sin"?

That was definitely a totally unnecessary flight within Germany. I thought I’d be saving time but in the end that wasn’t the case at all. So it was all the more annoying and in future, I’ll only be taking the train.

Where else would you prefer to live whether for ecological reasons or otherwise?

I’m a city person and I need at least 400,000 other residents around me to feel at home. But sometimes life can be a bit too busy and hectic and then I’d love it if I could live by the sea or in the mountains for a while.