G20: “Merkel must deliver“
The G20 is in principle “an acceptable format” to find solutions for big global challenges, but the Hamburg summit “must deliver results” given the costs associated with hosting the event, said Sweelin Heuss, managing director at Greenpeace Germany, at a press conference in Hamburg. Germany, for example, must exit coal and shut down the oldest power plants fast, to be able to reach its 2020 climate target. “Merkel must deliver. Otherwise, German climate policy is in no way better than that of the US,” said Heuss.
Greenpeace’s demands for the remaining G19 (without US) are:
- Speedy implementation of the Paris Agreement; intensified climate protection efforts
- Commitment to transition to 100 percent renewables by mid century
- Ending fossil fuel subsidies by 2020
- Merkel must initiate Germany’s coal exit.
Greenpeace also presented a study by the Finnish Lappeenranta University of Technology, which showed that by 2015 at least one form of renewable energy was already cheaper than any fossil fuel in the context of power generation in eight of the G20 member states, according to Greenpeace. By 2030, this would be the case in all the countries.
Find a Greenpeace press release in German here and the study in German here.
For background read the CLEW factsheet When will Germany finally ditch coal?, the CLEW article G20 climate, energy plan goes to the wire at Hamburg summit and the interview “Merkel has to play her cards right at the G20 summit in Hamburg”.