Germany planning climate action worth over 100 bn euros

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government plans to commit at least 100 billion euros ($110 billion) on climate protection by 2030, according to a draft policy paper being discussed on Thursday.

Merkel's conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats were expected to haggle late into the night on the details before the landmark policy package was due to be announced Friday.

The EU's biggest economy is set to miss its climate targets for next year but has committed itself to meeting the 2030 goal of a 55 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels.

Export powerhouse Germany accounts for around two percent of the worldwide emissions blamed for heating the Earth's atmosphere, melting ice caps, rising sea levels and intensifying violent weather events.

After two blistering summers and a wave of Fridays For Future student strikes and other environmental protests, the Merkel government has faced rising pressure to step up its efforts to protect the climate.

The coalition now looks to commit to spending "in the triple digit billions", or at least 100 billion euros, according to the nearly 140-page draft paper titled "Climate Protection Programme 2030" seen by AFP.

The document states that "the additional investments in climate-friendly measures will support the economy" and help future-proof Germany as a business, trade and investment location.

Germany wants to implement "a variety of effective and ambitious measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions" and help "preserve the foundation for life on Earth", the draft paper said.

Measures listed would tackle emissions in the energy and industrial sectors as well as in housing, transport, agriculture, waste management and the state apparatus itself.

The government aims to step up subsidies for the purchase of zero-emission electric vehicles and expand the country's still under-developed electric car charging infrastructure.

It would also raise tax incentives for making buildings more energy efficient and promote alternative fuels, local public transport and climate-friendly freight transport.

The two coalition parties are currently unresolved on how to better price harmful carbon emissions from oil, gas and coal into economic activity in order to incentivise clean alternatives.

While Merkel's party wants to expand the trading of emission certificates, the Social Democrats have called for a carbon tax.

Merkel's government will announce its plan on the day expected to see the biggest international wave of climate strikes yet by the Fridays for Future movement and the hundreds of civic groups that support it.

Marathon Merkel govt talks drag as climate deal proves elusive
Berlin (AFP) Sept 20, 2019 - Chancellor Angela Merkel's government struggled Friday to find a deal on a broad climate plan despite overnight talks dragging over 12 hours, as protesters prepared to ramp up the pressure for change.

The plan, which covers a slew of measures from tackling emissions in the energy and industrial sectors, to incentives for zero-emission electic vehicles or public transport, was due to be unveiled on Friday.

But after a marathon session through the night, sources close to the talks said Merkel and other political leaders were still locked in negotiations.

A key sticking point was the question of how to better price harmful carbon emissions from oil, gas and coal into economic activity in order to incentivise clean alternatives.

While Merkel's party wants to expand the trading of emission certificates, her junior coalition partners, the Social Democrats, have called for a carbon tax.

The EU's biggest economy is set to miss climate targets for next year but has committed itself to meeting the 2030 goal of a 55 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels.

After two blistering summers and with tens of thousands joining climate school strikes started by Swedish teen Greta Thunberg, protesting voices have grown louder, putting pressure on the government to take decisive action.

- 'Life-destroying crisis' -

As Merkel's government haggled over its climate plan, the Fridays for Future youth movement was preparing its biggest international wave of protests.

Merkel, a scientist by profession, was once known as the "climate chancellor" as she pushed forward a green energy transition that vastly increased clean renewables such as wind and solar power.

However, many of those gains have been eroded by an increased reliance on dirty coal, in part to offset the phase-out by 2022 of nuclear power that Merkel decided after Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Her government this year announced a coal phase-out by 2038, but faces local opposition from mining regions, especially in the ex-communist east, where the far-right AfD party has capitalised on fears over job losses.

Car-mad Germany has also lagged badly behind in the transport sector, where state-coddled auto giants VW, Daimler and BMW have long focused on gas-guzzling SUVs more than hybrid or zero-emission electric cars.

Mindful of the 800,000 jobs tied to the auto sector, Merkel's government faces a tight balancing act as Germany is forecast to slide into recession in the third quarter.

But the young warn that the threat is existential with consequences during their lifetimes.

"We are heading for a life-destroying crisis and so far nothing has happened," said Linus Steinmetz of the student movement.

"That's why we're raising the pressure -- together we're strong."

Italy's Enel to reduce C02 emissions 70% by 2030
Milan (AFP) Sept 18, 2019
Italian energy giant Enel said Wednesday it plans to reduce its direct greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent by 2030 compared to 2017 levels. In an announcement just a few days ahead of the UN Climate Summit, Enel said it wanted to help achieve the UN's goal of limiting the maximum global temperature increase to 1.5 percent Celsius from pre-industrial levels, and achieving zero emissions by 2050. "By cutting our direct emissions by 70 percent... we will be well on track, 20 years before the 205 ... read more