Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer has backed calls from several CDU politicians to soften the climate targets. "Do we have to achieve 100 percent or is 90 percent or 80 percent not enough or will 2050 be enough instead of 2045?", the CDU politician told Die Welt. According to Kretschmer, the goal of climate neutrality by 2045 involves "central derivations in transport, agriculture, housing, but also in energy". "And then many things will no longer work."
Kuban sees jobs at risk
On Monday, Tilman Kuban (CDU), a member of the Bundestag, argued that jobs were at risk and called for the climate targets in Germany and the EU to be changed. He said it would be sufficient for Germany to be 80 percent climate-neutral by 2045.
Other CDU/CSU politicians followed suit. Germany must not become a climate-neutral green economic ruin, said CSU General Secretary Martin Huber in an interview with Die Welt. He called on the EU to withdraw the planned ban on combustion engines. CDU MP Mark Helfrich said that "the burdens of the energy transition" should not lead to the German economy no longer being competitive. "Nobody wants production to move out of Germany because of climate protection."
Vice parliamentary group member disagrees
The vice parliamentary group member of the CDU/CSU, Andreas Jung, spoke out against softening the climate targets. He rejected Kuban's demand by referring to his own election manifesto and the coalition agreement with the SPD. There, the CDU/CSU had committed to climate neutrality by 2045. CDU climate politician Thomas Gebhart agreed with this. "Softening climate targets would not solve a single problem," he said. "That's why it's good that we in the coalition are clearly committed to the climate targets."
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