Germany’s conservative parliamentary group leader calls for “hundreds of billions of euros” in climate investments

The leader of the conservative CDU party’s parliamentary group, Ralph Brinkhaus, has called for “hundreds of billions of euros” to be invested in climate action over the next decade via a “future fund” managed independently of the state budget, the Rheinische Post reports. Brinkhaus says a fund worth 100 billion euros proposed by the Green party would not be enough to meet the challenges ahead and that measures like a carbon price could only be part of a broader approach. “We need to invest a really big sum of money. Otherwise this won’t work,” Brinkhaus said, adding that coming climate action measures would “change our lives” but also open up a whole range of new opportunities for technological development and business.

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has said the German government needs to end its “easy-peasy” approach to climate policy, and that “radical changes” would be revealed in September. A cabinet of ministers relevant for climate action is currently debating possible measures for emissions reduction in regular meetings that are meant to forge consensus on possible policy changes, such as a price on carbon emissions.