Poorer countries’ coal exit puts pressure on Germany to follow suit

The decision of 48 poorer countries to terminate coal-fired power production has sparked calls for Germany to envisage a speedy coal exit as well, the Rheinische Post newspaper reports. The announcement of the Climate Vulnerable Forum’s countries at the COP22 in Morocco to switch to 100 percent renewables by 2050 demonstrated that Germany was being “outpaced by more and more countries”, Martin Kaiser, from Greenpeace Germany, told the newspaper. He called for a German coal exit by 2030. The German Green Party’s climate spokesperson Annalena Baerbock said concrete deadlines for the coal industry “also need to be included in Germany’s Climate Action Plan”, according to the newspaper. Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary in the environment ministry (BMUB), said the coal exit perhaps needed to be done “sooner than some might think”, the Rheinische Post reported.

Read the article in German here.

For background on the role of the coal industry for Germany’s climate protection targets read the CLEW article Coal exit dispute delays Germany’s Climate Action Plan.