Germany to set climate plan by mid-2016

• 8 years ago (2015-12-15)
• David Flin

Europe 1061 Nuclear 640

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Barbara Hendricks, Germany’s Environment Minister, has said that Germany will lay out a climate action plan for 2050 by the middle of 2016, and she is talking to industry groups and trade unions about ways to end coal-fired power generation.

While Germany’s green energy campaign has earned it the reputation of being a leader in environmental policy, critics say that it needs to set a timetable to scrap coal power if it is to meet its own ambitious long-term climate targets. Hendricks said: “It is completely clear that we need to exit fossil energy sources by the middle of the century.” She added that Germany needed to find a way to cushion the social impact in some regions. She said that the German government is due to decide on a climate action plan for 2050 by the summer of 2016, and will give more concrete details on a coal exit then.

Germany generated more than a quarter of its electricity from renewable sources last year. However, the phase-out of nuclear power has increased its reliance on brown coal, which is cheaper than gas-powered plants. The coal sector accounted for around 44 per cent of electricity generated in Germany in 2014.

Green groups say that Germany needs to do more if it is to meet its goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent compared to 1990 levels by 2020, and by 80-95 per cent by 2050.