Germany’s new government can’t just walk away from climate protection
Since 2019, Germany’s Climate Protection Act has had aimed to reduce Germany’s carbon emissions to zero by 2045. The incoming new government has to adhere to this law. Will it though? The topic of the climate crisis barely made it into this winter’s election campaign – and when it did, many parties slammed the Energiewende (clean energy transition) as a wasteful enterprise owned by the Greens. The vote’s victors, the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) led by Friedrich Merz, are now in the process of putting together a coalition government, almost certainly with the Social Democrats (SPD). Given the stagnant economy and new spending priorities for defense, the clean energy transition will not be a top priority – but it can’t, by law, be ignored either. In Spiegel magazine, science editor Susanne Götze argues: ‘Merz wants to overturn the [last government’s] climate policy laws. But there is hardly any room for manoeuvre. The chancellor-to-be will have no choice but to pursue green policies.’ ‘Earlier this year, CDU/CSU supported a range of energy policy reforms in the Bundestag,’ …
Since 2019, Germany’s Climate Protection Act has had aimed to reduce Germany’s carbon emissions to zero by 2045. The incoming new government has to adhere to this law. Will it though? Credits: MDV Edwards, All rights reserved. The topic of the climate crisis barely made it into this winter’s election campaign – and when it did, many parties slammed the Energiewende (clean energy…
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