BFederal Minister of Transport Volker Wissing (FDP) has to make further improvements when it comes to climate protection. This emerges from the long-awaited cornerstones of the immediate climate protection program that Federal Climate Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) gave in the departmental vote on Monday. With this package of measures, the federal government wants to ensure that it can achieve the ambitious climate goals: by 2030, greenhouse gas emissions must fall by 65 percent compared to 1990.
The Federal Ministry of Transport plays a special role here, because the “climate protection gap” is particularly large here. Along with the building sector, it was the only area that missed its targets last year. While the building sector has now been able to follow up with measures relating to heating in particular, the transport sector still needs to reduce greenhouse gases by a total of 118 to 175 million tonnes between 2022 and 2030. Because of the “climate policy failures of the past decades”, it is not immediately possible to agree on all the necessary decisions in one step, according to ministry circles. A first wave of measures is now to be decided by the end of 2022, with further measures to follow next year. The agreement on this should be completed by next spring.
So far, the plans in the transport sector are as follows: According to the Climate Protection Act, emissions in 2030 may only amount to 85 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, last year they were 148 million tons. There is no shortage of ideas for effective measures, but implementation takes time. The program includes measures to strengthen local public transport, including the “49-euro ticket”, which is to apply to all public transport in Germany and would mean a significant reduction in the previous prices in many regions. Prime Ministers are expected to take a decision on this at their next meeting next Wednesday, so it can be offered early next year and provide an additional incentive to switch from cars to buses and trains.
More charging stations on the freeways
Another goal of Transport Minister Wissing: With a dense network of charging stations, he wants to encourage drivers to replace their petrol and diesel vehicles with electric cars. To this end, the FDP politician presented a “master plan for charging infrastructure” almost two weeks ago, with which he wants to significantly increase the number of charging stations, especially on the motorways and service areas.
On Monday it was initially unclear which additional measures the Ministry of Transport will now offer to further reduce emissions. Contrary to what has been demanded by environmental protection associations and the Greens, Wissing rejects a speed limit. There is also dissent with the Green coalition partner on the question of whether company car taxation can be changed so that the purchase of e-cars is rewarded more.
