中国气候变化信息网 China Climate Change Info-Net

(2017-10-09)Leading Green politicians in Germany have said a coalition agreement with Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the free-market Free Democratic party (FDP) will be contingent on climate policy progress.

With the three parties expected to begin negotiations for a broad left-right coalition in the coming weeks, Greens told Clean Energy Wire that they were optimistic they could find common ground, despite major ideological differences.

Oliver Krischer, vice chairman of the Greens’ parliamentary group, said the Greens were determined the coalition talks to form Germany’s next government will be a success. He accepted compromises must be found in all policy areas, but stressed the Greens would be particularly adamant over climate and energy policy.

This was the party’s electoral campaign focus and was emphasised in a ten-point plan for Green governance, published as a supplement to the party’s manifesto. “There will be no coalition agreement without substantial progress in climate protection,” Krischer insisted.

“We would be out of our minds if we don’t make climate our chief concern once negotiations begin,” said Green politician Ingrid Nestle.

Krischer said the introduction of a carbon price floor and verve for green innovation were issues on which the parties might agree. While Merkel could prove an important ally in pushing climate policies during negotiations.

“Every one of the parties has committed itself to the aims of the Paris climate agreement. That’s a good starting point,” said Krischer, who also served as his party’s climate and energy spokesman.

He pointed to the energiewende – the German term for the transition to a low carbon energy system – as common ground with the pro-business FDP, which he called the Greens’ “the toughest negotiating partner”. Innovation was a focus of the FDP election campaign. The economic liberals also called for introducing a CO2 price as a market-based measure to curb carbon emissions.

“We look at climate protection as something that can foster innovation and strengthen competitiveness, and the parties’ different strengths could turn out to be helpful in this respect,” Krischer said.

According to Nestle, Merkel – who will remain chancellor after her party won the most seats in September – could be an ally of Green climate protection plans. Merkel not only cultivated her image as the ‘climate chancellor’ in the past, but shortly before the election promised that her government would “find ways” to still reach Germany’s endangered 2020 emissions reduction targets.

“The 2020 goals – and actually all the other goals that follow – can only be achieved if a coal exit is initiated now,” Krischer said. If Merkel makes good on her promise, he said, prominent Green demands to immediately shut down the country’s 20 most-polluting coal plants and gradually phase out coal-fired power production over the next decade have a great chance of becoming a reality. A corresponding expansion of renewable energy would then become inevitable, he adds.

But Krischer also points out that both the CDU and FDP backed the continued use of coal power for decades to come in their coalition agreement in the coal-mining state of North Rhine-Westphalia earlier this year.