Germany must insist on ambitious EU car emission rules to safeguard 2030 climate target – commentary

Germany will only be able to reach its 2030 climate targets with the help of ambitious EU car emission rules, writes Christian Hochfeld, head of mobility think tank Agora Verkehrswende*, in a guest article for Zeit Online. The current EU Commission proposal for the coming decade would merely reduce German transport emissions by 4 million tonnes, but the sector must cut 50 million tonnes according to government plans. Environment minister Svenja Schulze has already called for more ambitious targets, but transport minister Andreas Scheuer has warned that these might “destroy the industry”.

Read the guest article in German here.

For background, read the article German environment ministry pushes for tougher EU car emission rules.

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