SPD group calls for swift coal exit by 2030 to avoid “poverty trap climate change”

A group of politicians from Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) says a swift and “socially responsible” coal exit by 2030 in Germany is possible and also necessary to avoid climate change becoming a “poverty trap” at the global level. In their Energy Transition Appeal, the SPD members say renewable energy sources in combination with storage technology have to quickly replace fossil energy sources to accelerate the transition to 100 percent renewables without any expansion caps. They also call for a price on carbon emissions that could counter “57 billion euros of climate-damaging subsidies per year” and make the energy market fairer. “It is often said that national measures are irrelevant for climate action. That is incorrect,” the group says.