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Germany Offers New Plan to Reduce Carbon Emissions Germany Offers New Plan to Reduce Carbon Emissions
(about 3 hours later)
BERLIN — Germany has fallen behind its ambitious goals for reducing carbon emissions. It is burning more coal than at any point since 1990. And German companies are complaining that the nation’s energy policies are hurting their ability to compete globally.BERLIN — Germany has fallen behind its ambitious goals for reducing carbon emissions. It is burning more coal than at any point since 1990. And German companies are complaining that the nation’s energy policies are hurting their ability to compete globally.
But on Wednesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government swept aside the doubts and complaints and said it was redoubling its efforts, proposing new measures to help it reach the emission-reduction target for 2020 it set seven years ago when it undertook one of the most aggressive efforts in the industrial world to combat climate change. But on Wednesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government swept aside the doubts and complaints and said it was redoubling efforts, proposing new measures to help it reach the emission-reduction target for 2020 it set seven years ago when it undertook one of an aggressive effort to combat climate change.
The new plan was unveiled at a time when Germany in particular and Europe in general are eager to retain a leadership position in international talks to address the threat from global warming, and underscored Ms. Merkel’s commitment to the issue despite the practical and political problems it has caused her at home. The new plan was unveiled as Germany is eager to retain a leadership position in international talks to address the threat from global warming. The plan underscored Ms. Merkel’s commitment, despite the problems it has caused her at home.
The plan calls on Germans to cut an additional 62 million to 78 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions — the equivalent of the annual output of about 7 million German households — to meet the country’s goals. That would triple emission reductions from current levels, spreading the burden of cuts across sectors from agriculture to automobiles. The plan calls on Germans to cut an additional 62 million to 78 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions — the annual output of about 7 million German households. That would triple emission reductions from current levels, spreading the cuts across sectors from agriculture to automobiles.
The program, which would be established in a series of laws to be passed by Parliament in the coming months, rests heavily on improved energy efficiency, with 3 billion euros, or $3.7 billion, in tax breaks and other incentives earmarked for insulation of buildings. The program, which would be established by laws to be passed by Parliament, rests on improved energy efficiency, with 3 billion euros, or $3.7 billion, in tax breaks and other incentives.
Roughly a third of the cuts are to come from the power industry, which is being urged to reduce emissions by an additional 22 million tons, even as coal-fired plants continue to play an essential role in maintaining stability on the German power grid. Roughly a third of the cuts are to come from the power industry, even as coal-fired plants continue to play an essential role.
The plan has already set off a backlash, with thousands of people signing an online petition started by the union I.G.B.C.E., which represents workers in the mining, chemical and energy industries, that demands “affordable electricity and good jobs.” Germany’s predicament reflects the difficulty faced by modern economies in reducing carbon as an energy source. At the same time, polls show most Germans are committed to reducing emissions.
Germany’s predicament shows just how difficult it can be to wean modern economies off carbon as an energy source, even with unified goals — polls show most Germans are highly committed to reducing emissions — and the best of intentions. “If we want to keep our promise, we need to close this gap, and that is what we are doing,” Barbara Hendricks, Ms. Merkel’s environment minister, said at a news conference on Wednesday.
“If we want to keep our promise, we need to close this gap, and that is what we are doing,” Barbara Hendricks, Ms. Merkel’s environment minister, said at a news conference. Ms. Hendricks is to present Germany’s position next week to leaders in Lima, Peru, who are working to create the basis for a new global agreement on emissions reductions ahead of a world summit in Paris next year. Last month China and the United States, the world’s top two polluters, announced plans to lower carbon emissions.
Last year, 45 percent of Germany’s power was generated from hard coal and the soft brown coal known as lignite, the highest level since 2007, according to data from AG Energiebilanzen e.V., a group of energy lobbying firms and economic research institutes. That compares with 25 percent of energy from renewable resources. The World Meteorological Organization warned on Wednesday that 2014 was on track to be the warmest year on record. “This is an important message for negotiators so that they know that decisions have to be taken quickly,” Michel Jarraud, the organization’s director general said in Geneva. He added that the evidence linking human-generated carbon emissions to climate change is much stronger than it was 20 years ago, and a “lack of knowledge is no longer an excuse for inaction.”
Since Germany began shutting down its 17 nuclear power plants, a drive that gained speed after the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, it has increasingly relied on coal-fired plants for the reliable flow of power needed by the country’s large industrial base. Its dependence on coal is the highest in nearly 25 years, when many of East Germany’s worst polluting factories and plants were shut down following reunification with the West. Ms. Merkel made her debut on the international stage as Germany’s environment minister by marshaling support for the Kyoto agreement in 1997, and has made it clear that she wants Germany to remain at the forefront of efforts to combat climate change.
She helped rally the European Union’s 28 leaders around the issue in October, and intends to use her country’s turn at the Group of 7 summit meeting next year to push for a Paris accord.
But the German union that represents workers in the mining, chemical and energy industries warned Berlin that the latest round of cuts could affect jobs in the country’s coal-rich and industrial regions.
Ahead of Wednesday’s announcement, members of the union had gathered thousands of signatures demanding German leaders provide “affordable electricity and good jobs.” Sigmar Gabriel, the minister for economic affairs and energy, has pledged to give utilities free rein to decide where and how they make further emissions cuts, with an eye to unions’ close ties to his center-left Social Democratic Party.
Last year, 45 percent of Germany’s power was generated from hard coal and the soft brown coal known as lignite, the highest level since 2007, according to data from AG Energiebilanzen, a group of energy lobbying firms and economic research institutes. That compares with 25 percent of energy from renewable resources.
Since Germany began shutting down its 17 nuclear power plants, a drive that gained speed after the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, it has increasingly depended on coal-fired plants for the reliable flow of power needed by the country’s large industrial base. Its dependence on coal is the highest in nearly 25 years, when many of East Germany’s worst polluting factories and plants were shut down following reunification with the West.
Soft coal, while the dirtiest fossil fuel to burn, is also Germany’s cheapest and most abundant natural resource. Hundreds of thousands of jobs depend on the lignite mines and the power industry they support, and workers are growing increasingly fearful that Germany’s energy revolution will come at the cost of their livelihoods.Soft coal, while the dirtiest fossil fuel to burn, is also Germany’s cheapest and most abundant natural resource. Hundreds of thousands of jobs depend on the lignite mines and the power industry they support, and workers are growing increasingly fearful that Germany’s energy revolution will come at the cost of their livelihoods.
Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s environment minister, has pledged to work with the power industry to help it reach its target. Many of Germany’s leading industries, like chemicals and aluminum, are based in the coal-rich Rhine region, contributing to Germany’s economic strength since after World War II. But in recent years energy-intensive companies have been looking abroad to expand their businesses.
Frank Löllgen, head of the trade union’s western North Rhine region, said the trend worries the 107,000 workers he represents. The union has been urging the government to remember energy’s role in ensuring that the economy can continue the success it has enjoyed in recent years.
“We already are on the edge of what is possible,” Mr. Löllgen said in an interview at his Düsseldorf office. “Is it worth it if we as a country succeed in reaching our targets in reducing carbon emissions, but sacrifice good jobs and our industrial base?”