Experts call for CO2 price tag to preserve Energiewende’s “credibility”

Leading experts commissioned by the German economy ministry (BMWi) say Germany will probably miss key targets of the Energiewende, endangering the entire projects's credibility.” In their advisory opinion on the BMWi’s fifth Energiewende Monitoring Report, the experts said there was a “considerable need for action” for Germany to meet its own Energiewende targets. The country is on track to increase renewable power production but has failed to reduce energy consumption and increase energy efficiency as planned. Amongst other things, the experts call for a “general price tag for CO₂ as a leading instrument” to transform the energy system. In the report, the government concedes that reaching Germany’s 2020 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets will require “forceful implementation” of the Climate Action Programme 2020, confirming earlier projections of the environment ministry. The expert commission, however, said the government would “most likely” fail to achieve its emissions target.

Read the BMWi’s press release in German here and find the experts’ statement in German here.