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A ministry for climate protection with veto power, phase out coal by 2030 and more investment in renewable energy. Although it is not yet clear if the Greens will become part of a future coalition government after the September Bundestag elections or if the electorate will make it possible for their candidate, Annalena Baerbock, to replace Angela Merkel in the chancellery, the environmental party has The campaign for legislatures in Germany heated up on Tuesday after presenting an ambitious program to fight climate change called
Save the climate, protect the people
.
Aware that the recent floods and floods that affected a large region in western Germany and that caused the death of at least 180 people are an alarm signal, the environmental group, the second in intention to vote after the conservatives of the CDU / CSU, returned to recover its fight for the defense of the environment, a challenge for the remaining forces of the country.
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In the seven-page document, presented on Tuesday by Annalena Baerbock herself and party co-chair Robert Habeck, in the Biesenthaler Becken nature reserve north of Berlin, the Greens are betting on a rapid expansion of renewable energy, an increase massive energy efficiency in the construction sector and a radical change in the mobility sector. The Greens also offer the prospect of massive aid to industry on the path to climate neutrality.
"We will pass the largest package of climate protection measures that has ever existed in the Cabinet," Baerbock promised at the presentation.
"We need more green energy and with affordable prices to reduce harmful emissions especially in transport, in industry and in the use of heating."
Habeck said, for his part, that he considers the program as a prelude to the fundamental electoral campaign.
Now it's about "discussing the how and the best answers."
In the “Immediate Action Program”, the Greens describe the fight against the climate crisis as “task of the century”.
They affirm that the future government wishes to "immediately launch a global program with concrete legislative initiatives that give a new impetus, realize rapid savings and mark an important course."
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The program includes the creation of a super ministry of climate protection with veto power, 15,000 million euros in additional climate investments, a speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour on highways, advancing the elimination to 2030 of the abandonment of the use of the coal, planned for 2038, and they propose to increase the minimum wage to 12 euros so that climate protection is socially acceptable and a new subsidy for reduced working hours, if the company converts its production to climate neutral.
In the first 100 days of government, the Greens would like to create a climate working group that speeds up coordination processes between ministries and meets weekly. The group will be led by the Ministry of Climate Protection, which would have the right to veto any rule that could endanger compliance with the commitments made by Germany in the Paris Agreements, whose goal is to ensure that the increase in temperatures does not exceed 2.0 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. The Greens also want solar roofs to be mandatory for new buildings and for the federal states to reserve 2% of their territory for wind power.
In opinion polls, the Greens currently rank second, behind the CDU / CSU, lately at close to 20%. For this reason, it is almost certain that they will participate in the talks to form a government after the September 26 elections. According to polls, a government led by the Greens, for example in alliance with the SPD and the FDP, is also mathematically possible.
