Complete coal exit in the next 20 years

The German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU) is demanding a complete coal phase-out in Germany within the next two decades. The expert panel of seven university professors has published a statement saying that the upcoming legislative period will be the last opportunity for Germany to make sure it fulfils its climate targets under the Paris Agreement. To this end, the country should introduce a greenhouse gas budget under which coal-fired power stations would have a limited lifetime. By 2020 the most polluting power stations should be taken offline, the scientists write.

Environmental groups Germanwatch, WWF and Greenpeace welcomed the SRU suggestions and urged the government to follow them.

Find a press release and the complete statement in German here.

See a CLEW factsheet on Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions and climate targets here.