Heil climate money: How high should the climate allowance be – and who is it for?
Created: 2022-06-02 06:21
By: Anika Zuschke
All information about the climate money from Heil: how high the climate allowance is and when it should come.
(kreiszeitung.de assembly) © Steinach/Christian Spicker/Imago
Social Minister Heil's planned climate money is currently causing a stir.
What that entails, how high the climate allowance will be and for whom it should come.
Berlin – Due to rising energy prices, Social Affairs Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) would like to introduce further relief for low and middle earners and probably also pensioners.
According to him, people with a certain income should be supported in their everyday life under the title “social climate money”.
The 2022 climate allowance is to be financed from the income from CO₂ pricing.
kreiszeitung.de explains what the climate money is all about, how high it should be and who it applies to.
What is Hubertus Heil’s climate money – and for whom should it be introduced?
The idea of climate money was first thrown into the room by Hubertus Heil last weekend.
The current inflation, which rose further in May and is now at 7.9 percent, has contributed to this.
Consumers notice this clearly in their everyday lives: groceries, fuel, heating - everything is becoming more expensive.
In order to relieve the burden on the citizens of Germany a little, the federal government has already launched two relief packages.
The fuel discount and the 9-euro ticket will be valid from June 2022, and the energy flat-rate, the Hartz IV subsidy and the children’s bonus will also be added in the fall.
But that's not enough for Hubertus Heil: According to his ideas, people who earn less than 4,000 euros gross a month as a single person and less than 8,000 euros a month as a married couple should also receive – and probably also regularly – social climate money.
The Minister of Social Affairs referred to the goal of climate neutrality, regardless of the war in Ukraine.
Energy becomes more expensive.
"We have to give an answer that goes beyond the current relief package," said Heil.
Amount of climate money 2022: How high should the climate allowance be?
But how much does the climate money actually yield for the people affected?
There are still no details about the exact amount of the lump sum.
According to focus.de
, however, experts assume
that the climate money could be up to 200 euros per capita and year.
Marcel Fratzscher, head of the German Institute for Economic Research, criticizes the planned lump sum because of the amount: The climate money is "good and right", but: "It is also clear that such a climate money is rather too low to keep up with the high inflation especially for people with low incomes," Fratzscher told RTL/ntv.
According to him, families with low incomes “actually need more like 100 to 150 euros a month”.
Social climate money 2022: Who does the climate allowance apply to – are pensioners, families and children also involved?
The social climate money is intended to be a response to the price increases, especially for all low and middle earners.
It is intended to “benefit people who earn less than 4,000 euros gross a month as singles and less than 8,000 euros gross a month as married couples,” Hubertus Heil told the Funke media group.
This applies to “employees, pensioners, students and trainees”.
It can therefore be assumed that climate money is planned for all possible population groups.
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According to Heil, the climate allowance is intended to achieve “social compensation”.
That's why she thinks it's important to structure the money "socially staggered - according to the principle: those who need it most get the most".
As a result, those who earn a lot receive nothing.
For high earners, high prices are also an annoying thing, but they can deal with them, says Heil, according to the Funke media group.
The Minister of Social Affairs also calculates the CO2 balance: if people with lower incomes cause less CO₂ on average, they will benefit from a combination of CO₂ prices and climate money - while high earners would tend to be burdened.
Climate money from Hubertus Heil: When will the climate allowance be paid out?
The “social climate money” is to be introduced at the beginning of next year.
If Hubertus Heil's will is complied with, the first payment will be made on January 1, 2023. "If it is technically possible, we should implement the social climate money on January 1, 2023.
If that doesn't work, we have to work with bridging one-off payments," said the SPD politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
In general, however, it has not yet been decided whether the social climate money will come at all.
Hubertus Heil's idea met with a wall of criticism and skepticism on the political side.
The idea triggers strong rejection, especially from the FDP.