Economist Ottmar Edenhofer has urged the Union and SPD to maintain their commitment to the energy and transport transition in their coalition talks. “Taking on new debt is only part of the equation” he told the Spiegel, “the other part consists of structural reforms.”
As the head of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, he also emphasized the need for a clear commitment to the planned EU emissions trading for buildings and transport. Berlin should take a conciliatory approach to the critics from Poland or the Czech Republic and work to ensure that the Eastern European countries are allowed to auction more certificates.
Edenhofer criticized the Union’s election campaign, which had questioned the CO2 limits for new cars. Abandoning the combustion engine would be a “dangerous step back” that could prevent the European economy from adopting the future market of e-mobility.
The energy transition should not be put on hold, but rather “designed more efficiently and socially” Edenhofer said. He referred to the concept of his institute for a “building climate premium” that links the promotion of heating systems and the state of the building’s insulation.
He also defended the energy transition from a geopolitical perspective. “The less oil and gas the German industry burns, the smaller the lever of Vladimir Putin.” It is “crazy” that some are again advocating for the revival of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline.