Governing conservative parties to adopt climate action concept in September

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU alliance will develop its own party climate action concept and plans to adopt it by 16 September, reports news agency dpa. The strategy will be developed through a mix of party events and an open participation process, according to a party paper. The document states that the alliance wants to use the summer to work out its proposals on how to reach climate goals and to introduce them into the political debate. The plan aims to highlight market economy and innovation, create the basis for the discussion on CO₂ pricing and develop a CDU/CSU position, writes dpa. The parties want to assess the complete system of German energy taxes and levies.

The parties’ discussion will be held at the same time and could be linked to federal government plans to come up with key proposals for climate action. In the 2018 coalition treaty, the government had agreed to decide on key climate policy measures by the end of 2019, such as the country’s coal exit and legislation on transport and buildings. Merkel has set up the so-called climate cabinet, a group of ministers with key responsibilities for climate issues, which is to come up with climate action proposals and the necessary legislation by the end of the year. The cabinet has said it will make key decisions about climate action legislation and measures in September and adopt these by the end of 2019. Merkel reportedly said in early June that her government’s climate cabinet would present “radical changes” to Germany’s current climate policy by September, saying that it was time to end the country’s “easy-peasy” stance towards emission reduction and introduce more effective measures.