German court speeds up emissions cut targets
Germany's environment minister Svenja Schulze and the vice-chancellor Olaf Schulz presented May 5 key points for a new climate protection law. The constitutional court declared the federal government's climate protection law inadequate in its decision at the end of April, said the industry group Zukunft Gas.
The new requirements stipulate that by 2030, the new target is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 65%, not 55%, relative to 1990. In addition, Germany should now become climate neutral five years earlier than previously planned: 2045 is the new date.
Zukunft Gas said the reduction would fail unless the "expansion of renewables is accelerated and the existing coal-fired power plants are quickly replaced by efficient and climate-friendly gas-fired power plants." In addition, it said: "We now have to press ahead with decarbonisation in all sectors and, in doing so, also consider how the energy transition can be made affordable. A short-term increase in CO2 price risks social upheaval and endangers trust in the stability of political framework conditions."
Spokesman Timm Kehler said the goal should be to "distribute hydrogen to all sectors via the gas network. The already existing gas infrastructure, as a powerful backbone of the energy transition, secures the supply today and can be used as a transport and storage system for climate-neutral hydrogen in the future." Zukunft Gas was originally called Zukunft Erdgas but now it officially backs the use of biogas, hydrogen and other gaseous energy following a name-change early this year.
The rapidly rising price of emissions trading certificates in the European Union's cap-and-trade scheme – they have traded in recent days at €50/metric ton – will speed up some switching towards gas in the power sector. But the last coal-fired plant is not scheduled to come off the grid until 2038.
In April, the UK government said it would legislate for a harsher target next month, and to include its share of aviation emissions and international shipping in its calculations. The new goal is a 78% cut in emissions relative to 1990, up from 68%, following advice from the Climate Change Committee late last year. The UK is to set up its own carbon trading scheme with the first auctions to be held this month. It might however rejoin the EU scheme which would improve liquidity.