Stricter climate protection targets should give the earth a future - but what does that mean for prosperity and jobs? Baden-Württemberg's Green Party Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann warned in SWR this summer: "I do not want us to become the Ruhr area of the future." In this field of tension between renouncement, decline and green growth in the autoland Germany, German industry has now positioned itself exceptionally well.
What we can do is change the structure, what we can not do is break the structure ", said Bosch boss Volkmar Denner of the" Stuttgarter Zeitung "and the" Stuttgarter Nachrichten ". A process of change takes time. "If you dogmatically break it over the knee, the industry will not be able to handle the change."
The loud warning comes in a symbolic moment. The new EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen wants to present on Wednesday her plan for a climate-neutral Europe by 2050, the so-called Green Deal. The goal is that by 2050, no new greenhouse gases from Europe will reach the atmosphere to stop global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius. To avoid this, most of the greenhouse gases that are produced by burning coal, oil or gas and in agriculture must be avoided and the rest stored.
Von der Leyen is planning a comprehensive legislative program covering energy, industrial production, transport and agriculture over the next 30 years - and an interim target for 2030: by then, emissions are expected to be 50 to 55 percent below 1990 levels. So far, the EU has committed a minus of 40 percent. However, other countries have already set higher goals. Denmark, for example, wants to save 70 percent over the same period.
"Sustainability does not depend solely on the ecological goals"
Nevertheless, the politician of the CDU, which is otherwise known for business-friendly politics, threatens a tough conflict with industry with its plans. BDI President Dieter Kempf warned against the harsher climate targets at the EU level for the year 2030. This would lead to further uncertainty among consumers and companies. "Constant increases in the target level are poisonous for long-lasting investments," said the head of the most powerful German industry association. "They are increasingly leading in frontier areas of technical, economic and social feasibility."
The Commission's approach is too one-sided. "Europe's sustainability depends not only on the ecological goals of the Green Deal," said Kempf. International competitiveness must also be an important goal: "The necessary trillions of investments in climate and environmental protection must make a competitive and innovation-friendly industry." A comprehensive availability of climate-friendly energy in the form of electricity, gases and fuels is essential. "Domestic wind and solar energy will not be enough to meet Europe's future of affordable energy, and Europe needs to open up new global markets."
Bosch CEO Denner also sees more jobs in the automotive industry threatened by the planned, tightened CO2 requirements of the EU Commission than already. "Such demanding limits mean the end of the classic internal combustion engine," he said "Stuttgarter Zeitung" and "Stuttgarter Nachrichten". "With the corresponding impact on employment of the companies concerned."
Investment of one trillion euros planned
In recent weeks, Bosch has repeatedly announced new job-reduction plans for individual locations in the automotive sector. With the recent announcement, there are already around 3,500 jobs. According to Denner, two company meetings are scheduled this week. The head of the conglomerate demanded to look at the CO2 balance of the entire process chain of the car, so for example, the production. "Then the optimized combustor would have a chance again, just like the fuel cell and synthetic fuels."
To ensure that change does not become a breach, the EU Commission is also planning a "fund for just change". Among others, the EU states Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, which rely heavily on coal for their energy supply, should benefit from this, and are still balking at the Commission's plans. 100 billion euros are to be mobilized for particularly affected regions. The total cost of the "Green Deal" are much higher: Von der Leyen is investing in the amount of one trillion euros.
