German Industry Fears Climate Regulations May Drive Production Abroad, Hampering Global Efforts
Sachsen-Anhalt’s Minister-President, Reiner Haseloff, has expressed concerns that the stringent national climate balance may prompt chemical plants to relocate to other countries, where they could potentially emit double or triple the amount of pollutants into the air.
In an interview with Bild, Haseloff emphasized the need to “think globally” and warned that the industry’s potential exodus could be more detrimental to the world’s climate than if the sector continued to operate under certain compromises in Germany. The minister believes that the CO2 and climate targets set at the European level can be challenging for certain industries to meet.
The example of a chip factory in Magdeburg, which Intel has reserved a plot of land for, illustrates the complexity of the situation. According to Haseloff, the site is being kept “hamster-free” at Intel’s request, with plants now being cultivated to prevent the need for hamsters to be removed and re-homed. The minister questioned the sustainability of such complex systems for an industrial society, particularly in the face of global competition with countries like North America and China.
In Magdeburg, “hamster-breeding stations” have been installed to prevent the extinction of the field hamster in Germany, as the species has become particularly vulnerable to extinction.