Climate scientist warns Germany’s coal exit commission could fail

The commission tasked with planning the end of coal-fired power production in Germany may be imperilled by internal differences that hinder compromise, climate scientist Hans Joachim Schellnhuber said in an article on Focus Online. “Given the [commission’s] composition it is possible that the whole thing is going to be a failure,” Schellnhuber said on the sidelines of the UN climate conference COP24 in Poland. The researcher called the commission a “social experiment” in which the German government has delegated the responsibility of managing energy policy to an external body, but still influences its work through constant pressure and control. “That’s not a good style,” Schellnhuber said. On the other hand, he said the delay in the commission’s work was nothing to worry about as the time limit given had been very short to begin with.

Read the article in German here.

For background, read the articles Commission watch – Managing Germany’s coal phase-out and Germany’s coal exit commission extends work to 2019, as well as the factsheet Germany’s coal exit commission.