The governing coalition parties in Germany have reportedly agreed to a deal to ensure the country meets its 2030 goals to combat climate change. The government is set to unveil its climate package on September 20.
Image: Stefan Ziese/imagebroker/picture-alliance
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government is set to unveil a package of measures on Friday, September 20, to ensure that the country cuts its greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 compared with the 1990 levels.
Days before the announcement, Germany's governing coalition parties reached an agreement on a climate package, which could cost at least €40 billion ($44.6 billion) until 2023, according to reports from German newspaper Welt am Sonntag and the Reuters news agency.
"Over €40 billion in just four years is a huge sum," Welt am Sonntag quoted government officials as saying.
"We agree that something needs to be done, but it is still open which form this will take," a person briefed on the talks told Reuters. "We still have not agreed on a price for a ton of C02."
The coalition partners — including Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), their Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) sister party and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) — have long argued about how to finance Germany's march toward a green future.
The CDU/CSU have been eager to ensure that the burden of financing the measures doesn't hurt German businesses, while the SPD wants to protect small earners.
In pictures: Environmentalist groups and their concerns
Tens of thousands of protesters disrupted the IAA car show in Frankfurt on Saturday. The protests were organized by several environmentalist groups. DW looks at the groups, their aims and the problems they want to fight.
Image: Reuters/W. Rattay
Joining forces: Environmental groups team up
Groups at the protest included #FridaysForFuture, an environmental protest movement started by activist Greta Thunberg. She sat outside the Swedish Parliament every day demanding the government take action on climate change. Her example soon sparked international school strikes. Other key groups in attendance were Greenpeace, cyclist-safety visibility group Critical Mass and Extinction Rebellion.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Becker
Cyclists riding for change
Critical Mass is a cyclists' environmental protest bicycle ride. It started in 1992 in San Francisco, and now Critical Mass groups are found all over the world. They organize rides in large groups that often block roads to make car drivers aware of cyclists. The Critical Mass website speaks of a "cycling culture that refuses to take a back seat to motorists."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Roessler
Greenpeace: In the place where change happens
Greenpeace is a non-violent environmental activist group. The organization has set out a plan for the world to be on track by 2020 to keep global climate change below 1.5° C. Among other aims, the group hopes to tackle environmental degradation of forests and oceans.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Roessler
The death of the combustion engine?
Evidence has towards the combustion engine's contribution to increasing global temperatures. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) study on car transport, commissioned by Greenpeace Belgium, concluded that to achieve a 66% likelihood of keeping global warming below 1.5°C, diesel and petrol cars must be rapidly phased out in Europe with an end to new sales by 2025.
Image: Reuters/W. Rattay
"We can't replace our lungs"
Air pollution is another target for environmental activists. Air pollution has reached dangerous levels in many cities across the world and there is mounting research on the damage it inflicts on humans and fetuses.
Image: Reuters/W. Rattay
An end to SUVs
According to the Greenpeace "Crashing the Climate" report into the effect of the car industry on the environment, SUVs are particularly damaging to the environment. Due to their higher weight and less aerodynamic body, SUVs produce significantly higher CO2 emissions than other cars.
Image: Reuters/W. Rattay
Down with auto-cracy
Many protesters and environment groups think that governments have been too slow to enact meaningful change to ensure the Earth's temperature doesn't rise above the 2°C benchmark set by climate scientists.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Becker
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Environment and economy
Merkel's government is under pressure to deliver a result that offers meaningful measures to protect the environment without damaging the economy.
Merkel touched on those dilemmas in her weekly podcast. "On the one hand, we want climate protection measures to be effective to meet our commitments," she said. "On the other hand, we want to be economically sensible and act in a socially acceptable way so that all people can afford climate protection."
The government's plans are expected to touch on a broad range of issues such as extending grants for electric car buyers, expanding a network of charging stations, raising road taxes for polluting vehicles, improving heating systems for buildings and raising a green surcharge for plane tickets.
Merkel has also said her government would introduce some sort of carbon emissions pricing.
Germany is set to miss its own emissions goals for 2020, and the country has seen frequent protests, especially by young people, demanding faster action to fight climate change and reduce coal use.
