In the lead-up to the election, the Greens are pushing for changes to the climate protection law. “We want to highlight the responsibility of individual sectors again in climate protection” said Green Party chief Felix Banaszak to the “Stern”.
“A sector-crossing consideration was incorporated into the climate protection law at the behest of our coalition partners, which was a hard compromise for us” Banaszak said. “That’s why the FDP transport minister could rest assured that Robert Habeck has overachieved the climate targets for energy and industry. This cannot be a precedent for the next federal government.”
In particular, the transport sector must contribute more to achieving the targets, the Green Party chief demanded. “We want to go back to sectoral responsibility, so that no one can make a thin face of it anymore.” For a new transport minister, this means accelerating the transition to a climate-friendly transport system. “Faster switching to climate-friendly cars, faster expansion of e-charging stations, and the rail network must be expanded more quickly” Banaszak added. A Green transport minister would also implement a speed limit on highways, he said.
The party chief is concretizing a demand from the preliminary election program, which the party presented in mid-December. There, it is stated that the party wants to increase the dynamism in the transport sector. “To ensure this, we will, as legally provided, evaluate the current climate protection law and strengthen the responsibility of sectors where climate protection is not making sufficient progress.”
In the coalition with the SPD and FDP, the Greens had agreed to a comprehensive amendment to the climate protection law. At the center was the sector-crossing consideration of the CO2 reduction targets. Previously, responsible ministries had to submit immediate programs if individual sectors failed to meet their climate targets. Environmental organizations and climate activists had criticized the change as a watering down of climate protection.