“A document of fear”

The current draft of the environment ministry’s Climate Action Plan 2050 showed that Chancellor Angela Merkel – weakened by the refugee crisis – avoided a dispute over climate targets with the economic wing of her party, writes Bernhard Pötter in an opinion piece for tageszeitung. Furthermore, she did not demand radical change in the auto industry because of fear over job cuts. “If the Chancellor lets herself be bound by interests of the past and the fear of change, then she will indeed become a lame duck, unable to make important decisions,” writes Pötter.

Read the opinion piece in German here.

For background information also read the CLEW factsheet on the Climate Action Plan 2050 and the CLEW article CO2 targets and coal deadline omitted from Climate Action Plan draft.