Fridays for Future calls on next govt to introduce German CO2 budget in line with 1.5° target

Climate activists from Fridays for Future have presented a list of demands for the first 100 days of a new German government. The activists first and foremost call for the adoption of a CO2 budget that is in line with the goal to limit global warming to 1.5°C, the lower boundary of the target outlined in the Paris Agreement. All new laws and infrastructure projects should be checked for compatibility with this budget. “We can't waste any more time with empty promises and need immediate action to preserve our livelihoods. The next government will decide whether we can still limit the climate crisis to a controllable level,” they write. Fridays for Future also call for the termination of new natural gas infrastructure projects and a complete fossil gas phase-out by 2035. Other demands include the end of all subsidies for fossil fuels, a sevenfold expansion of solar and wind energy and a commitment of at least 14 billion euro annually for international climate financing. The activists also call for a socially just transition, for example in the mobility sector, including a phase-out of new fossil combustion engine cars by 2025.

The youth activists have also announced a climate strike to be held on 22 October in Berlin, near the national parliamentary buildings, to put pressure on the government coalition negotiations. The Social Democrats (SPD), the Green Party and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) have announced they want to enter into formal negotiations to form a so-called “traffic light coalition”.