The front-runner who succeeded Angela Merkel as Chancellor of Germany warned the European Union that the joint greenhouse gas target cannot be at the expense of weakening German industrial power, which shows that they are unwilling to join other European countries’ carbon reduction plans.
“Europe must be modernized: we must implement green agreements together, but still be successful in our industry,” Armin Laschet, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said in an interview with The Guardian .
“This is the part they didn’t say so loudly in Brussels, but this is what we expect in Germany: we do our best to modernize our industry. Many member states are no longer industrialized economies. But we and some others , We want to maintain this state.”
Raschelt’s Conservative Party looks certain to play an indispensable leading role in Germany’s next coalition government after the September 26 election. He stated that he is committed to Germany’s climate neutrality by 2045.
But the 60-year-old firmly believes that the country under his leadership will achieve its goals by focusing on technological innovation and market incentives, rather than restricting consumer behavior, such as raising air travel taxes or banning internal combustion engines.
“There are many things that can be done through technological innovation and market means,” Raschelt said. “EU CO2 For example, the emissions trading system has proven its value.
“Adjust our steel industry and our chemical industry to make it climate neutral, which will greatly reduce emissions, which has never been seen in history. This is why I believe it can be used without preaching abstinence or prohibition. As a society, we have the technical means to achieve climate neutrality and still maintain an industrial country.”
Scientists question whether technological research can propose game-changing innovations in the next decade.Research on “negative emission” technology-absorbing carbon dioxide2 For example, the loss of air to make up for the ongoing release-a breakthrough has not yet been made.
Unlike countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Belgium, Germany has not yet committed to a specific date for phasing out gasoline or diesel-powered passenger vehicles.
Germany will shut down black coal power plants in 2020 and has vowed to completely withdraw from coal power by 2038. The miner’s son Raschelt said that this “may minimize carbon dioxide emissions.2 From the industrial age”.
“The end of the fossil fuel era is a major effort. Of course, we Europeans can eat less meat, which may be healthier. But in the end climate change can only be resolved on a global scale,” he said.
Raschelt opposed the state-led budget proposal for air travel proposed by the German Green Party or the proposal to ban short-distance flights that can be covered by train travel, such as those being implemented in Austria and France.
On the contrary, he suggested that Germany’s planning and approval laws should be overhauled, possibly expanding the rail network, thereby incentivizing more people to travel by train instead of by plane.
