Merkel calls for “radical shift” in German mobility sector
Reuters
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a radical shift in mobility to ensure the country reaches its 2030 climate targets, reports news agency Reuters. “We can only achieve this through a radical shift to e-mobility or hydrogen or completely different things,” Merkel said during a visit to a school in Berlin. Since 1990, the transport sector had contributed nothing to bring down CO₂ emissions, she added.
By 2030, Germany aims to cut emissions from transport by 40 percent, compared to 1990 levels. But transport emissions have remained stubbornly high and even increased slightly. With roughly 163 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, the sector was responsible for about one fifth of all emissions in Germany in 2018. Germany’s Federal Environment Agency (UBA) said the transport sector needs addressing more than any other in Germany and Chancellor Angela Merkel recently already announced that "tough decisions" to bring down emissions were imminent.
Merkel once again welcomed the protests by school students in Germany and beyond who are skipping school every Friday to demand more rigorous climate action from their governments – the Fridays For Future protests. “For me as a politician, this is an important movement,” as it showed people worried about the future, she said.
