Coalition climate agreement criticised / EU approves capacity reserve
Tagesspiegel
The announcement by Germany鈥檚 would-be grand coalition partners CDU/CSU and SPD to water down the country鈥檚 national 2020 climate target 鈥渉as shocked many climate activists in the Philippines鈥�, Philippine Senator Loren Legarda writes in a guest article for the Tagesspiegel. The coalition agreement states the target is to be reached as fast as possible "without setting a new deadline or proposing concrete measures,鈥� Legarda says, adding that Germany would be wise to reconsider 鈥渨hat kind of signal this sends out to the world鈥�. It puts the progress made in the fight against climate change in jeopardy and threatens the livelihood of many people, she argues. Germany鈥檚 insistence on putting the tight 1.5-degrees target into the Paris Agreement 鈥渨as one of the rare occasions that sparked hope鈥�, but this hope will turn into desperation 鈥渋f the most affluent countries, which are also the greatest climate polluters, don鈥檛 live up their promises,鈥� Legarda says. The Philippines, she argues, 鈥渋s determined to implement鈥� the Paris Agreement, 鈥渂ut we do so in the conviction that other signatories also do their part.鈥�
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Find background in the 威力彩玩法 articles Germany's coalition negotiators agree treaty, promise coal exit date and Reactions to Germany's coalition agreement, and the factsheet Climate, energy and transport in Germany's coalition agreement.
klimaretter.info
The coalition treaty agreed by Angela Merkel鈥檚 conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the Social Democrats (SPD) is filled with promises and vaguely worded provisions on climate, energy and transport and it remains to be seen if 2030 climate targets will actually be reached, writes Susanne G枚tze in an opinion piece for klimaretter.info. 鈥淐limate change is difficult to grasp, and suitable for drivelling speeches and symbolic policy,鈥� writes G枚tze. In 2030, when we will know whether or not Germany has adhered to its climate protection plan and how binding the new binding nature really was, Angela Merkel will celebrate her 75th birthday and Martin Schulz his 74th. Maybe we鈥檒l be able to ask them about the coalition treaty from 2018 then.鈥�
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Find background in the 威力彩玩法 articles Germany's coalition negotiators agree treaty, promise coal exit date and Reactions to Germany's coalition agreement, and the factsheet Climate, energy and transport in Germany's coalition agreement.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The German economy ministry (BMWi) has visibly lost influence under three consecutive coalition governments led by Chancellor Angela Merkel,聽Heike Goebel writes in a commentary for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. But Merkel's CDU party now claims that retaking the ministry, which is also responsible for Germany鈥檚 energy system,聽from the SPD counts as a victory in the coalition negotiations. The ministry鈥檚 former occupants 鈥渄idn鈥檛 live up to their role as the guardian of a market economy within the government鈥�, Goebel argues. Merkel鈥檚 close associate Peter Altmaier will now become the CDU鈥檚 first economy minister in several decades, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 unclear whether the party still knows what this means."
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Find background in the 威力彩玩法 articles Germany's coalition negotiators agree treaty, promise coal exit date and Reactions to Germany's coalition agreement, and the factsheet Climate, energy and transport in Germany's coalition agreement.
pv magazine
Germany鈥檚 new and old coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel鈥檚 conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) have 鈥渕ade a shambles of the successful pro-climate and pro-renewables policy of the SPD-Greens coalition鈥� in the early 2000s, Green politician Hans-Josef Fell writes in an op-ed for pv magazine. The new coalition agreement by the conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the SPD 鈥渓acks any will to actively address humanity鈥檚 big challenges with big concepts,鈥� the co-author of Germany鈥檚 first Renewables Act (EEG) says. Together with the pro-business FDP, the parties have caused a dramatic drop in investments in renewables, from 40.3 billion dollars in 2010 to 14.6 billion dollars in 2017, Fell argues. 鈥淕ermany鈥檚 annual greenhouse gas emissions have been rising for years instead of being quickly reduced to zero,鈥� he says. Instead of initiating a significant turnaround in 鈥渋neffective support schemes鈥�, the coalition agreement is instead teeming with the same old, ineffective schemes that will ultimately contribute to the failure of the Paris Climate Agreement鈥檚 goals, Fell says.聽
Read the opinion piece in German .
聽Find background in the 威力彩玩法 articles Germany's coalition negotiators agree treaty, promise coal exit date and Reactions to Germany's coalition agreement, and the factsheet Climate, energy and transport in Germany's coalition agreement.
European Commission / BMWi
The European Commission has approved under EU state aid rules Germany鈥檚 strategic capacity reserve, which is meant to ensure the security of power supply in case of emergencies, the Commission said in a press release. 鈥淐apacity mechanisms can help to safeguard security of electricity supply, but they must be designed so as to avoid distortions of competition in energy markets,鈥� said European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. Germany has clearly identified and quantified the security of supply risks and the reserve is needed to ensure security of supply during the ongoing reform of the German electricity market and to manage the phase-out of nuclear electricity generation. The reserve is temporary and will be removed when the underlying market issue is solved, the Commission said. The German economy ministry welcomed the decision, which allows Germany 2 gigawatts (GW) of reserve capacity from 2019 on. The capacity will be tendered in technology-neutral auctions, open to all types of capacity providers, including demand response.
Find the Commission press release in English and the BMWi press release in German .
Find background in the 威力彩玩法 factsheet Germany's new power market design.
Reuters / Handelsblatt / Vattenfall
Swedish state-owned utility Vattenfall posted a pretax profit in 2017 despite sluggish electricity demand, helped in part by new wind power capacity, writes news agency Reuters. Vattenfall started operation of two new wind parks in 2017, one of them the offshore wind park Sandbank in the German North Sea, reports the Handelsblatt in a separate article.
Find the Reuters article in English , the Handelsblatt article in German and the Vattenfall release in English .
Find background in the 威力彩玩法 dossier Utilities and the energy transition.
Frankfurter Rundschau
The two major German insurance companies Allianz and Munich Re have until now often been viewed as 鈥渂eing in the camp of climate activists鈥�, but a study by NGO Unfriend Coal now suggests both companies are quite active in insuring Poland鈥檚 coal industry, Thomas Magenheim writes in Frankfurter Rundschau. 鈥淭he self-proclaimed climate activist Allianz supports the largest coal expansion in Europe,鈥� says Regine Richter of German NGO Urgewald. She says reinsurer Munich Re is 鈥�schizophrenic鈥� for issuing many studies that highlight climate change鈥檚 negative consequences but simultaneously issuing insurance certificates for the Polish coal industry. The insurers do not deny their activities, but Allianz points to the 4.6 billion euros it has so far invested in renewable energy, which bears proof of its climate action.
Find the article in German and the Unfriend Coal study in English .
Also read the 威力彩玩法 article Private climate finance under scrutiny on eve of Paris summit.
