Innovation and technology are key German contribution to solving climate change – chancellor Merz

German chancellor Friedrich Merz said that his country’s key contribution in the fight against global warming was developing the right technologies. “If we want to contribute to solving this major problem, we have to demonstrate that we are the ones who enable the world to make the necessary progress in terms of innovation,” said Merz during his first summer press conference as chancellor.

“We want to use state-of-the-art technologies to respond to this challenge.” As an example, Merz highlighted that his government was pursuing carbon capture and storage (CCS) or utilisation (CCU) technologies. “We will only succeed if we really have the most modern technologies that are climate-friendly, environmentally compatible, and perhaps even make an active contribution to solving this huge problem,” he said.

Merz said that Germany and Europe could not solve climate change by themselves “with bans and regulations”. Merz and the government of his conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the Social Democrats (SPD) took office in early May with a coalition agreement that promised to continue the country's landmark energy transition without major adjustments and stick to existing climate targets.

However, climate action proponents are becoming increasingly concerned about the future direction of energy policy in Germany. Activists have accused the economy minister of planning to slow the rollout of wind and solar energies with an ill-designed assessment of the country’s landmark energy transition. The government’s decision to deny households and small businesses a promised electricity tax cut was met with even broader criticism by consumer groups and trade associations.