New Bavarian government coalition plans state climate protection law

Bavarian conservative parties Christian Socialist Union (CSU) and Free Voters have signed a coalition treaty for the coming five years in Germany’s southern economic power house and largest federal state. The alliance aims to make climate protection a “constitutional goal” for Bavaria and introduce a climate protection law which will include concrete CO₂ targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to under two tonnes per citizen annually by 2050. “We are setting a conscious signal for sustainable ecology. Bavaria can become greener, without the Greens,” said current state premier Markus Söder (CSU), who will likely remain head of government. Many conservatives had called for improvements and changes in this regard, and the CSU had “learned” from this, he added. The parties emphasised that they see “the most regional and decentralised energy supply possible as a great opportunity for local value creation”. Renewables expansion will be done “in agreement with” the population and municipalities, and cities will be made greener with the coalition’s “City.Climate.Nature” initiative. At the federal level, the new state government will call for more renewables capacity for Germany’s south in upcoming auctions, advocate the expansion of European emissions trading, and support federal initiatives for an internationally coordinated introduction of a CO₂ price. The state parliament will vote on a new premier on Tuesday, 06 November.

Find the agreement in German here, and a video of the CSU press conference in German here.

For background, read the CLEW factsheet Facts on the German state elections in Bavaria.