Status: 07/19/2021 11:11 a.m.
CSU boss Söder calls for a “climate jolt”, Green Chancellor candidate Baerbock for a faster coal exit and Environment Minister Schulze for more renewable energies. In view of the floods, one thing is clear: climate protection must have priority.
In view of the flood disaster in several federal states, climate protection is right at the top of the agenda. Politicians are unanimously pushing for more measures. Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder called on the ARD–morning magazine a “climate jolt” for Germany. He called the storm with devastating consequences, especially in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, but also in southeast Bavaria, a wake-up call.
Söder announced a government statement for Wednesday. It will not only be about defining goals, but also about backing them financially with a climate program. Climate protection is not an ideological question, but a question of reason and ethics. It is about protecting the homeland more strongly and considering which world one wants to hand over to children and grandchildren.
Markus Söder, CSU, Prime Minister Bavaria, “When it comes to climate protection, you have to go faster now”
Morning magazine, July 19, 2021
Baerbock: Prefer coal exit
The Chancellor candidate of the Greens, Annalena Baerbock, called for more climate protection and precautionary measures to be taken as well as to break new ground. “This is not an either-or between climate protection, climate adaptation and climate protection, but a triad that is actually decided in exactly the same way in all of the climate protection treaties worldwide,” she also said in the ARD–morning magazine.
Annalena Baerbock, Federal Chairwoman 90 / The Greens, “The climate crisis does not stop at us”
Morning magazine, July 19, 2021
In addition, Baerbock demanded that flood protection be geared towards extreme global warming. “Climate science can calculate very precisely what will happen in the next few years. We should listen carefully to what is threatening and, for example, align flood protection with worst-case scenarios,” Baerbock told “Spiegel”. For this, the cities and municipalities must be made available by the federal and state governments.
The Green politician campaigned for the coal phase-out to be brought forward and for the expansion of renewable energies to be quickly triple. It makes a big difference for the climate “whether emissions will drop significantly in the next few years or not until after 2030,” says Baerbock.
The government’s emergency climate program
Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) told the “RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland”: “The dramatic situation in the flood regions clearly shows us what consequences hesitation and hesitation can have in climate protection.” Schulze said there was an immediate climate program that could be implemented and expanded by the new federal government immediately after the election. The cabinet decision of June provides for an additional eight billion euros in the federal budget, which is to be spent on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, especially in the areas of buildings, industry and transport.
The most important thing is the expansion of renewable energies, said Schulze. More space is urgently needed for wind and solar systems. A tightened speed limit is also necessary: ”It immediately leads to fewer CO2 emissions and costs nothing,” said the minister.
Climate protection combined with an adaptation strategy
The climate policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Lukas Köhler, called for better precautionary measures. Extreme weather situations would probably increase due to climate change. Therefore, in addition to immediate help and the necessary efforts to halt climate change, there must also be a strong adaptation strategy, he told the “RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland”. This included early warning systems, more efficient sewage systems and floodplains.