German conservative party head calls for serious discussion on climate action law – media

Conservative party head Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has called for a serious discussion about the climate action law planned by the federal government, reports Silke Kersting in the Handelsblatt. Germany either has to stipulate CO₂ reduction targets for each ministry’s policy field, “or you take up the idea of CO₂ pricing,” she said at a real estate conference. Both approaches would be difficult to introduce, but had to be debated in detail, which was “very high” on her agenda. “We must have this discussion and conclude it by the end of the year,” she said. Kramp-Karrenbauer has succeeded German Chancellor Angela Merkel as leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and is a likely candidate for chancellor after the next national elections.

Over the past days, German media has reported that a dispute over what is supposed to be its most important climate policy is adding to the woes of Germany’s governing coalition. Chancellor Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU alliance and their centre-left coalition partner SPD are split over the basic design of the planned climate action law, due this year. Environment minister Svenja Schulze’s plan to set binding sectoral climate targets and hold other ministries financially accountable for failing to abide by these has met with staunch resistance from politicians of the conservative alliance. Several CDU/CSU members have criticised Schulze’s plans for putting her ministry in a “dominating position” over others, and said the planned law “is not dead but put on hold” for now.