Traffic light climate plans: There is so much climate protection in the coalition agreement between the SPD, Greens and FDP

The traffic light parties have presented their coalition agreement - and advertise with “Dare to make more progress”.

But how much climate protection is there really?

Berlin - Greenwashing is a critical term for the marketing measure of giving yourself a green stamp - but without doing it justice. The subtitle of the coalition agreement * presented by the traffic light parties on Wednesday is: “Alliance for Freedom, Justice and Sustainability”. That sounds promising and in fact the chapter “Climate protection in a socio-ecological market economy” is 41 pages long and is therefore a central component of the 177-page paper. The coal phase-out should be brought forward, renewable energies should be expanded and the way to climate neutrality should be paved by 2045.

So far so good. But is the coalition agreement as green as it appears at first glance? Or just the plans of the GroKo with a green paint? The assessments are mixed. The impetus for resentment is, among other things, vaguely chosen formulations such as “ideally” and “should”. Departure actually sounds different.

At least the Greens - who like no other party stand for ecological change - experienced a first setback in the distribution of ministries.

The party holds the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economic Affairs in its hands - but two other central ministries receive nothing *.

The Ministry of Transport, which is so important for the green transport turnaround, will be liberal and yellow.

Central climate protection issues will also be decided in the newly hatched Ministry for Building and Housing, over which the SPD will watch.

So the question arises as to what effects this distribution will also have on climate policy.

Traffic light climate plans: Compliance with the 1.5-degree target - “ideally” phasing out coal by 2030

The fact is that compliance with the 1.5 degree target is stipulated in the climate protection chapter.

At the press conference to present the plans, FDP * boss Christian Lindner emphasized: "No industrialized nation will make greater efforts to protect the climate."

The measures adopted went beyond the emissions reduction target of 65 percent by 2030.

The same 65 percent who stand in the Climate Protection Act 2021 with the title: “Generational contract for the climate” of the federal government.

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Activists hold a picture of a traffic light in the German pavilion during a protest by Fridays for Future at the UN climate conference COP26.

It reads "1.5 degrees" on her hands.

© Christoph Soeder / dpa

In a climate check, every ministry is to check its draft laws for compliance with the climate targets - the fight against man-made climate change is thus becoming a cross-cutting task.

In addition, the traffic light parties want to adopt an immediate climate program as early as 2022.

The close interlinking of business and climate protection is exciting.

In an interview with Deutschlandfunk, political scientist Albrecht von Lucke considers the merging of the areas to form a kind of “transformation ministry” to be a radical step.

However, it is also clear that a lot will have to be negotiated more precisely, and concrete measures to achieve the individual projects are sometimes not in place.

And it is well known that the devil is in the details - or in the implementation.

The following central points can be found in the traffic light contract *.

• Coal exit:

  Instead of 2038, the coal exit “ideally” - a remarkably soft formulation - should be completed by 2030. "This requires the massive expansion of renewable energies that we are aiming for and the construction of modern gas-fired power plants in order to meet the increasing demand for electricity and energy over the next few years at competitive prices," it continues. The share of renewable energies in electricity consumption is to increase to 80 percent by 2030; it is currently around 45 percent.

• According to the contract, the gas-fired power plants planned up to security of supply are also to be built at previous power plant locations.

  "They have to be built in such a way that they can be converted to climate-neutral gases (H2-ready)," is one of the specifications.

  Gas is thus referred to as a bridging technology - a controversial project.

• Automotive industry:

  By 2030, at least 15 million electric cars should be on the road.

  Conditions are tightened for the promotion of plug-in hybrids.

  Public transport as well as cycling and walking are to be strengthened.

  The restructuring of Deutsche Bahn is to create a new, public welfare-oriented infrastructure division in the group.

• CO2:

  The CO2 price in the energy sector should not fall below 60 euros, if necessary national measures should be applied.

• Energy:

  Two percent of the land area is to be devoted to wind energy systems.

  Solar roofs should become the rule across the board and also become mandatory in industry.

• Hydrogen:

  ramping up hydrogen energy is also a central project.

  By 2030, the Federal Republic is to become the “lead market for hydrogen technologies”.

• Foreign climate policy:

  The traffic light government wants to campaign for so-called international "climate clubs".

  Several countries are joining forces to jointly advance climate protection.

  "We will fulfill our promises for the German share of the 100 billion US dollars in international climate finance within the framework of a coherent climate foreign policy and increase it in the future," reads the contract.

Traffic light coalition: Criticism of climate plans by the SPD, Greens and FDP - the response is mixed

The climate protection movement Fridays for Future has already warned: The plans of the SPD *, Greens and FDP would not be enough to achieve the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Agreement. Instead, it means "another escalation of the climate crisis". Greenpeace also blew in the same horn and announced that an ecological awakening could only be guessed at, traffic in particular remained a problem. The WWF, on the other hand, spoke of a “solid foundation” on the way to a sustainable future. The German Nature Conservation Ring (DNR) sees “at least one chance” of meeting the 1.5 degree mark on the basis of the coalition agreement.

The Green Youth also sees the coalition agreement of the traffic light parties “with mixed feelings” overall.

There are deficits above all in the areas of climate protection and traffic, said the federal spokesman for the Green youth movement, Timon Dzienus, on Thursday to the Phoenix broadcaster.

He went on to say that compromises in a government alliance are normal, "but it must be clear that you cannot just make compromises with the climate".

Annalena Baerbock * protested against such criticism.

In the coalition agreement, the course was set to get back on track to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees in this century, said the Greens * boss in the ARD program “Brennpunkt” on Wednesday.

Compromises are necessary "when three people sit down together at the table".

Scholz as climate chancellor?

Time is of the essence - humanity is currently heading for a 2.7 degree increase

The future Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz invented himself as Climate Chancellor during the election campaign.

In his coalition, the Greens are the second strongest force.

Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock's mantra during the election campaign was always: The future government will be the last one that can still actively fight against climate change.

Potsdam climate economist Ottmar Edenhofer told

that the traffic lights had opened doors to make the country climate-neutral by 2045.

“But it then has to go through the open doors,” says the scientist tellingly.

The urgency of this is underscored by a recent UN report, which says that humanity is currently heading at high speed towards the 2.7-degree increase.

A “catastrophic path”, made UN Secretary General António Guterres clear.

Can the future government turn things around?

She will have to prove that in the next four years.

List of rubric lists: © Christoph Soeder