Five months after Söder's climate statement: Ministry information stunned Greens - "a tragedy"

Created: 12/23/2021, 9:31 PM

From: Florian Naumann

Markus Söder at an online meeting of the “Future Council” - the meeting at the beginning of December also dealt with the climate.

© Bavarian State Chancellery / Imago

Markus Söder had promised “50 measures” for climate protection in Bavaria in the summer.

However, the government is apparently unable to name these measures in response to a Green request.

Munich - The topic of climate protection will continue to dominate the year 2022.

Markus Söder (CSU) * wanted to position his Bavarian coalition and the Free State as a "role model" - this is what the Prime Minister announced in a major government declaration in July.

According to the Greens *, Söder's government has not yet come particularly far: The answers of the state government to a written question about the state of affairs leave the climate protection spokesman for the Green parliamentary group, Martin Stümpfig, more or less stunned.

He attested the CSU and Free Voters “failure”, “false announcements” or - in terms of photovoltaic expansion on state buildings - also a “tragedy” on various points.

Markus Söder: 50 climate measures announced - but still not named five months later

“Five sectors, 50 measures” was the title of the Bavarian climate protection program that Söder presented in the summer. However, even five months later, no 50 new measures have been defined. The state government did not name this at Stümpfig's request. The answer from the Ministry of Economic Affairs is at

.

“The state government will provide a detailed description in the update of the climate protection program,” it says with a view to the 50-pack of concrete steps promised in July. At the request of

*, the Ministry of Economics and the Environment indirectly confirm that the big announced momentum of new measures is not yet in place. The 50 announced steps were "already partially" contained in a "package of climate protection measures" published in mid-November, explained a spokeswoman. So they are not yet complete.

Spicy: Actually, according to Söder, an additional billion euros should flow into climate protection measures in 2022 - 400 million of which are not planned in the current budget anyway and have been pushed onto a hydrogen project for the years 2023 to 2027 as a "commitment authorization".

The Ministry of Economy and Environment confirmed this amount.

The rest of the money doesn't seem to have been planned down to the last detail.

"Obviously, the Söder government still has no concrete plan how it will implement which climate protection measures," says Stümpfig.

The number of “50” measures provided “again just a lot of show and little climate protection”.

Bavaria: Greens reprimand Söder- "failure" and "show" instead of climate protection

In the case of other striking announcements, too, many questions still seem to be unanswered. So Söder had announced - as demanded by almost all parties in the federal election campaign - more speed in the expansion of the power grids. "45 percent more planning capacity" for the major energy policy project was promised. "Details are currently being agreed between the agencies concerned," says five months later about the current state of affairs in the answer to the Greens' question.

When asked when the promised 1,300 solar systems will be installed on state roofs in Bavaria, the paper simply says that the expansion should take place "quickly".

"This is really a failure of the state government that it does not even want to consistently implement climate protection on its own roofs and facades," says Stümpfig - also referring to the fact that even if the plan were implemented, 7,700 state-owned roofs would remain unused.

Greens criticize Söder's efforts for climate protection - "inflated to the maximum"

The Greens see Söder's government proceeding too hesitantly on other points. According to the answer from the Ministry of Economic Affairs to the inquiry in 2020, only five energy-efficient renovations of state buildings in Bavaria have been completed, out of a total of 4500 "heated properties", as Stümpfig complains. The department cited a shortage of building materials and planning capacities as justification.

An announced quadrupling of the number of "agricultural photovoltaic" systems in Bavaria, according to the ministry's response, Stümpfig criticizes again as being "inflated to the maximum" - according to the information there are currently four such facilities that are supposed to use additional solar energy on agricultural land.

So a large number of projects would not mean quadrupling.

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