Katharina Dröge, the Green Party’s parliamentary group chair in the Bundestag, has strongly criticized the draft Building Modernization Act, warning that it sets up high costs for tenants while offering insufficient climate protection. Speaking to RTL and ntv’s “Frühstart” Dröge argued that the only common ground found by the CDU and SPD is dismantling Germany’s commitment to climate protection.
She highlighted that the draft law would allow the installation of climate-damaging heating systems even after 2045-a timeframe when Germany is aiming to be climate-neutral. “This is a complete rejection of German climate goals, and I find it utterly irresponsible” Dröge stated.
The CDU and SPD initially reached an agreement to introduce quotas for synthetic gas and biogas. However, data from the Fraunhofer Institute for System and Innovation Research (ISI) calculated that, with this approach, the increased burden for tenants installing a gas boiler instead of a heat pump could amount to 55 euros per month in 2025. This extra cost was projected to rise drastically to 272 euros monthly by 2045. While the coalition later agreed that landlords should bear part of these additional heating costs, Dröge rejected this partial remedy. “It is slightly fewer costs, but they are still additional costs-and that amid exploding fossil fuel prices” she argued. Adding anything more to the problem, she concluded, was “socially totally unfair”.
Furthermore, Dröge warned that the law is fraught with chaos and uncertainty. “We were seeing very good development with heat pumps. Sales figures are trending up. And now this uncertainty returns” she explained. She stressed that future legislation must address this uncertainty to provide planning stability.