Germany’s econ min says change of government would not derail climate neutrality push

Germany’s Green Party economy and climate minister Robert Habeck has expressed confidence that the country’s efforts to reach climate neutrality by 2045 would not be derailed by a change of government the next general elections, which are scheduled to take place in late 2025. “This would not lead to a fundamental change of course in policy,” Habeck said, according to a report in newspaper Tagesspiegel. He added specific measures could be adapted or changed, but the fundamental course would remain intact, given there was a consensus among all the major parties on the 2045 climate neutrality target, which was agreed under the previous government led by former conservative (CDU) chancellor Angela Merkel and her successor, Social Democrat (SPD) Olaf Scholz, as vice chancellor. Germany’s current government is a three-way coalition between Habeck’s Greens,Scholz’s SPD, and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP).

Germany is expected to elect a new government in September next year. The Conservative alliance of the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, say they are committed to the overarching goal of climate neutrality by 2045, including the expansion of renewables and climate-friendly industry restructuring. But opposition leader Friedrich Merz (CDU) told a party conference in May that "almost everything is currently going off track and in the wrong direction" in energy and climate policy. Leading conservatives have said they want to reverse the EU’s 2035 ban on the sale of new combustion engine cars, and have also called for a return to nuclear energy, even though both operators and most experts believe this is unrealistic.