Merkel says Germany needs e-cars for 2030 climate goal, faces “tough decisions”
Clean Energy Wire / Süddeutsche Zeitung
Germany needs e-mobility to reach its 2030 emissions reduction targets in transport, Chancellor Angela Merkel told an audience of think tank and university researchers at the Global Solutions Summit in Berlin. The set goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector by 42 percent by 2030 is impossible to reach with the old system of internal combustion engines, according to Merkel. She added that gains in efficiency have so far always been cancelled out by rising transport volumes.
In her speech, Merkel focused on the value of multilateralism and international cooperation. She stressed Germany’s challenges in meeting its climate goals and highlighted the introduction of a climate cabinet as a way to get the legislative process coordinated.
At a citizens’ dialogue event held in the northern coastal town of Bremerhaven one day before her speech in Berlin, Merkel said Germany would soon have to make “tough decisions” in climate policy in order to make progress on its emissions reduction targets, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports. Merkel said a “holistic” approach was necessary for citizens to accept that a shift towards a low-carbon economy also comes with unpopular adjustments.
Germany has so far failed to cut carbon emissions in transport. Volkswagen has recently announced a major push into e-mobility, but the industry remains split over the merits of other ways to power the cars of the future.
