Bundestag passes controversial reform of the Climate Protection Act - and gives Wissing time

The Bundestag passed the controversial reform of the Climate Protection Act on Friday. A motion against it by CDU member Thomas Heilmann had failed at the Federal Constitutional Court the previous evening. The reform of the law came about mainly at the request of the FDP. CDU energy policy expert Andreas Jung spoke of a gutting of the Climate Protection Act and a setback for climate protection. Representatives of the traffic light coalition defended the reform. The law still needs to pass the Bundesrat.

The reform of the Climate Protection Act provides for fundamental changes. Until now, if individual sectors such as transport or buildings failed to meet legal requirements for carbon dioxide emissions, the responsible ministries were required to present immediate programs in the following year.

The transport sector has been missing targets for years

Last year, both the transport and building sectors failed to meet the targets. Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) had threatened drastic measures, including weekend driving bans, if the Bundestag did not pass the reform of the Climate Protection Act by the summer - Wissing would then have had to present an immediate program to ensure the transport sector met the climate targets.

With the reform, compliance with climate targets is now no longer to be monitored retrospectively by sectors, but rather prospectively, multi-yearly, and across sectors. What is crucial is that climate targets are met overall. If it becomes apparent in two consecutive years that the federal government is not on track with its climate target for 2030, it must take corrective action. Jung criticized that the traffic light coalition was issuing itself a blank check. By weakening the binding sectoral targets, the core of the law is being ripped out.

Greens warn: Not a gram more should be emitted

The FDP parliamentary group chairman Christian Dürr, on the other hand, said the old climate protection law was centrally planned. The climate does not care whether CO2 emissions are saved in the energy, industry, or transport sector. The Greens parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge said: "The climate protection law looks ahead to the future." The emission targets remain. "Not a gram of CO2 should be emitted in the future." However, Dröge admitted that the Greens would have wanted a clearer responsibility for the individual sectors.

According to the law, Germany must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65 percent by 2030 compared to 1990. By 2040, greenhouse gases should be reduced by 88 percent, and by 2045 greenhouse gas neutrality should be achieved - meaning that no more greenhouse gases would be emitted than can be reabsorbed.