2024-04-22 01:33:09
The traffic light parties had been fighting with each other for months, but now an agreement has been reached. The climate protection law should be reformed. The parliamentary groups also agreed on a solar package.
The parliamentary groups of the SPD, Greens and FDP have agreed on the long-controversial reform of the climate protection law and a package to promote the solar industry. Representatives of the three factions announced this on Monday in Berlin. With the agreement, far-reaching interventions such as weekend driving bans for drivers in order to achieve climate goals in the transport sector are likely to be off the table. Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) recently warned about this.
“The abolition of the annual sector targets in the Climate Protection Act ensures that there will be no driving bans,” explained FDP parliamentary group deputy Lukas Köhler. “With the change to the Climate Protection Act, we are turning German climate policy upside down, because from now on all that matters is that the climate goals are achieved overall and no longer where emissions are reduced. In 2028, it will also be checked whether the other regulations in the Climate Protection Act can be abolished.”
Greens: “Law binds government”
SPD parliamentary group vice-president Matthias Miersch spoke of a breakthrough and emphasized with regard to the climate protection law: “The amendment means that no more gram of CO₂ can be emitted. With the solar package, we are also providing important impetus for the expansion of photovoltaics, wind power and biomass.”
Green parliamentary group vice-president Julia Verlinden emphasized: “The new climate protection law obliges the federal government for the first time to set up concrete climate protection measures for the period 2030 to 2040, renews the obligation of each sector and will measure CO₂ savings more intelligently. With a view to the much stricter climate target for 2040, especially “More will happen in the area of traffic.”
Operation of balcony power plants simplified
The solar package is intended to remove bureaucratic hurdles for the expansion of solar energy in Germany and thus advance the expansion. The operation of balcony power plants and the use of self-generated photovoltaic electricity in apartment buildings should become easier. The possibilities for setting up solar systems on fields and fields should also be expanded.
Financial support for the domestic solar industry (“resilience bonus”) was recently discussed, but the FDP rejected this. In view of the current misery, several solar companies are considering stopping their production in Germany. The reason given is that Chinese manufacturers flooded the market with modules at dumping prices. “There will be no resilience bonus to subsidize individual companies at the expense of the general public,” explained Köhler. “Instead, people can look forward to significantly less bureaucracy and faster procedures if they want to purchase a solar system.”
Exceptionally long consultation time
FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai praised the compromise found. In an interview with t-online, he emphasized how important it was that the FDP had prevailed. “The Union’s old planned economy law will finally be reformed in the next week of the meeting, and the sectoral consideration will no longer be taken into account,” he said. “We said from the start that there would be no driving bans with us, and this goal will now be ensured with the reform.”
Overall, with the end of the sector measures, the traffic light is “taking a market-based path” to save emissions where it is easiest and cheapest. “This is an important milestone for climate protection with economic sense.”
The federal cabinet had already passed the reform of the climate protection law last June and the solar package in August. Since then, both have been discussed in the Bundestag – an exceptionally long time. The Greens and the SPD in particular feared that the Climate Protection Act would result in a loss of binding force, and environmental associations criticized the plans as watering down the law.
Expert: “The planned dissolution of the sector targets is a mistake”
The following applies so far: If individual sectors such as transport or buildings fail to meet legal requirements for CO₂ emissions, the responsible ministries must submit emergency programs the following year. With the reform, compliance with climate targets should no longer be monitored retroactively by sector, but should be directed towards the future, over several years and across sectors. If it becomes apparent in two consecutive years that the federal government is not on track to meet its climate target for 2030, it will have to make adjustments. By then, Germany must by law reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65 percent compared to 1990.