Env min decision on CO₂ car limits Pyrrhic victory for industry – opinion

German environment minister Svenja Schulze’s decision to back away from her call for more ambitious new EU CO₂ car emissions limits is “a defeat for the climate, and for the industry – once again – a Pyrrhic victory,” writes Michael Bauchmüller in an opinion piece in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. With the support of the German government, the European Commission’s less ambitious proposal is likely to prevail. “The car industry, above all the German industry, can continue to rest on a technology that has no future. Which must not have a future if Europe is serious about climate protection. And which cannot have a future if electric drives continue their triumphal march,” writes Bauchmüller.

Read the opinion piece in German here.

Find background in the news item Merkel opposes more ambitious EU car fleet emissions targets and the articles Germany launches task force to kickstart shift to sustainable mobility and German environment ministry pushes for tougher EU car emission rules.