Chancellor Scholz wants a global “climate club”

Created: 01/19/2022 17:24

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in the Federal Chancellery at a video conference as part of the World Economic Forum Davos Agenda 2022. © Markus Schreiber/AP Pool/dpa

The German economy has already warned of companies moving away - if more climate protection makes production in Germany and Europe more expensive.

This is one of the reasons why there should now be an international “Climate Club”.

Berlin/Davos - With an international "climate club" with the G7 countries at its core, Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to speed up climate protection.

At the same time, this should prevent competitive disadvantages for German companies that could be at the expense of jobs.

Scholz said on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum's virtual Davos Dialogue that the "cost factor" of climate commitment should be turned into a competitive advantage by internationally agreeing on common minimum standards.

Climate protection as a competitive advantage

Europe will not avert the climate crisis on its own, said the SPD politician.

“We will therefore use our G7 presidency to make the G7 the core of an international climate club.

We want nothing less than a paradigm shift in international climate policy: by no longer waiting for the slowest and most unambitious, but by setting a good example.”

At the beginning of the year, Germany took over the G7 presidency from leading Western economic powers.

In addition to Germany, the G7 also includes the USA, France, Italy, Japan, Canada and Great Britain.

Scholz had proposed an international "climate club".

Countries willing to protect the climate should move forward together and be able to avoid locational disadvantages.

It's not supposed to be a "VIP club".

"Ambitious, courageous and cooperative - these criteria will define the climate club," said Scholz. Members should commit to meeting the 1.5 degree target and becoming carbon neutral by 2050 at the latest. Germany wants to achieve this goal by 2045. The "climate club" should not remain a "VIP club", said Scholz - but be open to countries in Asia and Africa - the world's largest CO2 emitter is China, followed by the USA and the EU.

The common minimum standards mentioned by Scholz could be a minimum CO2 price and overall close coordination on a simultaneous pace of climate protection measures - so that companies have a level playing field. Scholz said that "carbon leakage" should be prevented - this means that emissions and thus industrial production should be prevented from being relocated to cheaper countries abroad.

The German economy had warned of distortions of competition with serious effects on jobs in Germany.

"If the burdens get higher and higher, there will be a migration of companies abroad," said industry president Siegfried Russwurm recently to the German Press Agency.

The President of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, Peter Adrian, said: "If we now take the path in Europe and especially in Germany that makes everything more expensive, then this can quickly result in the industries and economic sectors affected in this country disappearing - because they have to emigrate abroad.”

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Russwurm said that the G7 states should agree on minimum climate protection requirements as a “coalition of the willing”. During the G7 presidency, Germany must push for the gradual introduction of CO2 pricing in all G7 countries. Both business representatives are skeptical about a possible European CO2 border adjustment tax.

The "Climate Club" should also be a focus of the G7 summit at the end of June at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps.

At the G7 summit in Cornwall last June, the G7 states reaffirmed the goals in the Paris climate protection agreement of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by around half by 2030 compared to 2010 levels.

All G7 countries also committed themselves for the first time to achieving climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest.

This means that no carbon dioxide is emitted or CO2 emissions are fully offset.

However, the industrialized nations were unable to agree on a specific target date for phasing out coal.

The financially strong countries must help others

"It is good that Chancellor Scholz wants to step up Germany's efforts in international climate protection and is initiating serious measures for climate protection in global trade and the movement of goods," said Martin Kaiser, Executive Director of Greenpeace, the German Press Agency. "For the climate club, the chancellor should make it clear that the rapid exit from coal, oil and gas is essential for the member countries - and that this cannot be an exclusive association."

The financially strong countries must actively support other countries in ending fossil fuels and overcoming the climate crisis, said Kaiser.

"Only in this way can the German G7 Presidency make a major contribution to achieving the 1.5 degree target." The target means limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times.

The left-wing climate politicians Lorenz Gösta Beutin and Maximilian Becker criticized that Scholz's idea for a climate club was not credible given the lack of steps by the federal government against the EU taxonomy.

Gas and nuclear power should not be considered green investments in the future: "In addition, binding international commitments to reduce greenhouse gases and financial resources are needed for the countries of the Global South and no new debating clubs for heads of state." dpa