The German environmental NGO umbrella association DNR and 54 other organisations are calling on the German government to back up the soon-to-be revised Climate Action Law with concrete measures to reduce CO₂ before the parliamentary summer break. In a jointly published ”climate action emergency programme”, the NGOs say: “An immediate climate action programme before the summer break must therefore use the full range of environmental policy instruments and encourage investments in the transformation to green technologies, and price CO₂ appropriately and set clear guard rails on regulatory law.” While they welcome the government’s revised climate action law, they stress that more has to be done. “These are steps in the right direction, but even the increased climate targets do not yet bring Germany on a course that is compatible with the 1.5 degree limit and the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court.” To achieve this, CO₂ levels have to fall at least 70 percent by 2030 and the reduction paths for individual sectors have to drop more steeply than planned. The programme’s proposals include an increased renewable power share of at least 80 percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2035; compulsory solar for all suitable roofs in new building, conversions and renovations; legally binding safeguards for a coal phase-out by 2030; and rising CO₂ prices. It also calls for a registration ban for cars with combustion engines before 2030, a moratorium on the construction and expansion of motorways and federal highways as well as massive nationwide promotion of climate-friendly mobility.
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To underpin its decision to reform the climate action law and introduce stricter emissions reduction targets, the government has promised an “emergency programme 2022”. The cabinet could present the policy programme on 23 June. However, it is unclear how many of the measures will ever see the light of day, as the country elects a new parliament in September. There is little time left for legislative action, as the parliament will convene for its last session in June.
Source: Clean Energy Wire