Patrick Graichen: Dropping of 2020 target no surprise

In an interview with taz, Agora Energiewende* director Patrick Graichen says he expected the prospective government to abandon Germany’s 2020 climate targets. "Saving 150 million tonnes of CO2 within two years is clearly urealistic unless you want to resort to very drastic measures," Graichen told the taz. He goes on to say that putting things off until the 2030 target does raise the risk of a decade of inaction, and that a serious package of measures is needed to ensure this next goal is met. But he says the parties’ exploratory paper gives grounds for cautious  optimism on the issue of coal, with the 2030 renewable energy target boosted to 65 percent of the country’s power consumption by 2030. Although the paper does not mention a CO2 tax, Graichen says this discussion is far from over, with pressure coming from Europe, and French President Emmanuel Macron in particular.

See the interview in German here.

*Like the Clean Energy Wire, Agora Energiewende is a project funded by Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation.