Germany: Greens are calling for even tougher climate protection measures

Berlin - Green leader Robert Habeck has judged the government's plans for stricter climate protection to be inadequate. It is a good thing that the grand coalition is now moving on the question, he told the newspapers of the Funke media group. At the same time, however, he added: "Our figures are a tad more ambitious: We consider 70 percent CO2 savings by 2030 to be necessary. And we want to reach 100 as quickly as possible."

Habeck also called for the government to underpin its climate plans with concrete measures. This includes, among other things, a faster expansion of renewable energies and higher CO2 prices.

The deputy leader of the Greens in the Bundestag, Oliver Krischer, demanded that the federal government should double its investments in climate protection. Eight billion euros by 2025 would be the minimum, he told the Funke media group.

Ever higher CO2 prices, ever earlier goals
Last week the Federal Constitutional Court declared the coalition's climate protection law to be partially unconstitutional. The main concern was that the provisions for climate protection were primarily at the expense of the generations after 2030 and thus interfered with their fundamental rights.

The Union and the SPD must therefore now agree on new and specific climate measures. According to the new plans, Germany should apparently not be “climate neutral” until 2050, but as early as 2045. Greenhouse gas emissions are also to be reduced by 65 percent by 2030 - instead of the 55 percent originally planned. The change to the climate law is to be decided by the federal cabinet in the coming week.

The Union parties in particular are currently advocating tougher climate protection measures. CDU boss Armin Laschet wrote on Twitter: Climate protection today must secure the freedom of future generations. "That is why concrete steps are now necessary and not just new annual figures." Making CO2 emissions more expensive is a market-based mechanism. "Incentives, not bans, strengthen innovation."

CSU boss Söder, on the other hand, indicated a few days ago where the journey could go. "After Covid, climate change is the next pandemic challenge," he wrote on Twitter. Bavaria therefore wants to take the lead on this issue and be climate neutral by 2040.

Source: Junge Freiheit