CDU wants to prevent planned commission on coal phase-out

High-ranking members of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) want to prevent a commission to plan a coal phase-out in Germany proposed in the environment ministry’s Climate Action Plan 2050, reports Reuters. Michael Fuchs and Georg Nüsslein, both vice heads of the CDU parliamentary group, argue the establishment of the commission would effectively pave the way for a premature coal exit, whereas lignite mining concessions are valid until the mid-2040s, according to the report
Earlier versions of the climate plan had assigned such a commission the specific task to come up with "recommendations for the concrete implementation" of the "step by step reduction of coal-fired power generation." The latest trimmed-down version, however, only calls for the commission to propose how "the climate protection goals can be achieved while strengthening the economic development and prosperity in our country at the same time."

Read the Reuters article in German here.

For background, read the CLEW factsheet Germany’s trimmed-down Climate Action Plan.