The Federal Environment Agency estimates that, overall, Germany has complied with the target values of the Climate Protection Act. So is the traffic light climate policy on the right track?
Unfortunately, that is deceptive. We only complied with the values because the industry used so much less energy. This was due to the high energy costs due to the Ukraine war. If this effect is factored out, the numbers are worrying, especially in the transport and building sectors.
What do you think needs to be done to meet the sector target for transport?
The FDP says yes, we solve everything through emissions trading. Then the fuel price would have to rise sharply and there would immediately be a discussion about social compensation measures with the opposite effect. That’s why I’m personally – my party still sees things differently – in favor of a speed limit on motorways. You should try this for three years. Perhaps one could even say that e-cars are exempt from this speed limit. Overall, we need to significantly accelerate the switch to electric transport, especially in cities. So far, people have worried that there is not enough charging infrastructure for their electric cars. And we have to get to freight traffic. Decarbonization is easier there because the useful life of a truck is only seven years anyway, so you have more frequent fleet changes. We should be open to different technologies and rely on different drives.
The CDU politician Thomas Heilmann during a speech in the Bundestag
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Image: Picture Alliance
What about an expansion of the rail?
All are for rail transport, me too. But let’s be realistic: by 2045, there will not be enough rail infrastructure in place to move freight traffic there to a large extent. Without truck traffic, logistics would collapse.
How could the building sector become more climate-friendly?
We cannot avoid renovations. As far as heating is concerned, we should rely much more on local heating networks. It’s better for neighbors to get together than for everyone to have their own heat pump installed. This is also a task for local politicians.
The traffic light coalition had already promised an immediate climate program in the coalition agreement. The Federal Climate Protection Act also prescribes programs related to individual sectors if the goals are not achieved. However, this is met with skepticism in the FDP. Do you expect such programs to come?
I find the behavior of the FDP as a constitutional party shameful. A legal obligation must not be violated intentionally. There are sector targets, and if these are not met, there must be an adequate emergency program. As long as there is no change in the law, the FDP-led Ministry of Transport must also adhere to it. Everyone is upset about climate stickers that break the law, but the FDP is intentionally breaking the climate protection law.
The CDU is currently working on a basic programme. What role will climate protection play in this?
Climate protection will certainly be formulated as an overarching goal. But a basic program is of course not a package of measures, but must also serve as a guide in a few years’ time when we hopefully will be in a different situation. Unfortunately, I am skeptical as to whether we will have managed the necessary expansion of renewable energies by then. The traffic light has done a lot for the expansion. But if you read the estimate of the Federal Environment Agency, you can hardly imagine that the climate goals will be achieved. The longer we leave global warming unanswered, the more expensive it will become. We have no alternative: 1.5 degrees is not just a political goal, but a physical limit. That is why we are converting a fossil infrastructure that is essentially 250 years old within 20 years. In the basic program, the CDU will certainly say that this cannot work without the forces of the market economy – definitely not with the state economy.
