Whenever it becomes really important from Markus Söder’s point of view, he conjures up the Bavarian attitude to life. So also this Tuesday. “It is very important for us to represent the lifestyle that prevails in Bavaria, namely modernity and sustainability, in the same way,” said the Prime Minister and CSU leader at the press conference after the cabinet meeting in the Hofgarten behind the State Chancellery. Söder is flanked by four ministers. On his left are Minister of Agriculture Michaela Kaniber and Minister of Construction Christian Bernreiter (both CSU), on his right Minister of Economics Hubert Aiwanger and Minister of the Environment Thorsten Faithr (both FW). Then Söder announces nothing less than a “Bavarian plan for homeland and transport, nature and energy”. That’s what he calls the long-awaited new Bavarian climate protection law and the exemptions for the construction of new wind turbines.
The central points of the Bavarian climate protection law and the associated climate protection program have been known for a long time. The aim is to reduce CO₂ emissions in Bavaria by 65 percent by 2030, and the state should be climate-neutral by 2040. That is five years faster than the federal government planned. In order for the Free State to achieve its goals, renewable energies should be massively expanded, there should be a solar obligation for new commercial and industrial buildings, communities should be encouraged to invest in green electricity systems. In addition, the Free State wants to massively strengthen the protection of the moors and forests, after all, they can bind vast amounts of greenhouse gases. And, of course, local public transport and e-mobility are to be expanded. The state government itself wants to set a good example, the ministries are to be climate-neutral as early as next year, and the other authorities directly subordinate to them by 2028. A “climate protection coordination staff” will monitor the success of the measures and make adjustments if necessary. Overall, as Söder said in his government statement on climate protection a year ago, the Bavarian climate protection program will include 150 individual measures.
Binding specifications are missing
Even then there was a lot of criticism of the state government’s climate protection policy. It shouldn’t get any quieter now. This Tuesday, the state parliament Greens are pushing ahead. “There are no binding specifications on how the expansion of renewable energies should be achieved, there are no specific points for saving heat, there are no clear targets for reducing CO₂ emissions in transport, in agriculture and other sectors,” says the Green MP Martin Stümpfig, “and there is no quantification of the savings and no timetable for the next few years.” Stümpfig speaks of a “bogus climate law” and a “wobbly contribution” to containing the climate crisis. This roughly corresponds to the tenor in which nature conservation organizations and trade associations such as the Bavarian Chamber of Architects, but also business organizations have already expressed their views on Bavarian climate protection policy.
Söder’s climate protection law is also an example of the gap that sometimes gapes between its announcements and their fulfillment. It was the end of April 2021 when the Federal Constitutional Court declared parts of the German Climate Protection Act to be unconstitutional. Söder called the decision “important, but right” and promised the comprehensive revision of the Bavarian climate protection law, which was only five months old and not very ambitious at the time. Everyone expected that Söder would make Bavaria Germany’s climate policy pacesetter and deliver quickly.
“Big breakthrough”
But then nothing followed for months. Only at the end of November – seven months after the Karlsruhe decision and three months after the federal government had passed its new climate protection law – did the Bavarian cabinet deal with the new climate protection law for the state for the first time. Even after the current decision of the Council of Ministers, it is not foreseeable when it will come into force. Because the cabinet decision is not enough. The draft must go through the state parliament. This will need time. In addition to the state parliament, a number of specialist committees still have to deal with it. The Greens have also requested an expert hearing on this. Observers assume that the new climate protection law can be passed in autumn at the earliest. That would be one and a half years after the Karlsruhe decision.
Vice Prime Minister and Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) is concentrating on wind power this Tuesday. In his view, the cabinet decisions are a “major breakthrough” for their expansion. Because soon, in so-called priority and reserved areas, along motorways and other national traffic routes, on and in commercial and industrial areas, but also in forests and on military training areas and when replacing old wind turbines with new, more powerful ones, there should only be a distance of a thousand meters between the wind turbines and the nearest village.
“Wind Power Turbo”
So far, the 10-H rule has also applied everywhere. According to this, the distance must be ten times the height of the system, for modern systems this is at least two kilometers. According to experts, but also from Aiwanger, 10H is the reason why the expansion of wind power in Bavaria has been stagnating for years. The federal government is now pushing hard for the Free State to enable more wind power. The CSU, of course, absolutely wants to stick to 10H.
“I’m happy and satisfied today,” said Aiwanger at the press conference in the Hofgarten. “With the reform of the 10-H rule, we are turning on the wind power turbo.” From his point of view, the new exemptions create “the potential for a large number of modern, high-performance wind turbines” in Bavaria. “Bayern have done their homework.” That can certainly be understood as a dig at Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens). Habeck has long pushed for Bayern to abolish 10H. Now he wants to let the Free State keep its distance rule – provided the state government manages to designate 1.8 percent of the state area for wind power within ten years. Aiwanger is optimistic this Tuesday that Bavaria will meet the new federal requirement.