East German state premier says 2030 coal exit "not possible in current framework"

The state premier of easterm German coal mining state Saxony Anhalt has said he believes the goal for an earlier coal phase-out date in 2030 is unlikely to be achieved, news website n-tv reports. Speaking during an online event organised by the London School of Economics, Reiner Haseloff, a member of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), said licensing procedures need to be accelerated and more financial resources must be made available, amongst other challenges. “Within the current framework, this is not possible,” he said. Haseloff added that a 2038 date – the goal previously set by the previous government that included the CDU and the Social Democrats (SPD) – would be more realistic and avoid putting German industry at a competitive disadvantage, as well as lessen the risk of destabilising democracy in severely affected regions.

The new coalition government consisting of the SPD, the Greens Party and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) in its coalition agreement said it wants to speed up the coal exit date and "ideally" achieve the phase-out by 2030 in order to keep Germany on a path compatible with the Paris Climate Accord. Local politicians, businesses and residents in coal regions all have voiced concerns that ending the industry within less than a decade would lead to far-reaching problems for local economies who could not adapt to the disruption in such a short period of time. Germany has earmarked more than 40 billion euros in support payments to help affected coal mining regions to weather the transition.