Germany adopts a draft act on the output of the coal-to-2038

Photo: Ina Fassbender Agence France-Presse
The new legislative leaves, paradoxically, the new power plant “Datteln 4” to enter service in the west of the country.

The German Parliament adopted Friday a draft law aimed to bring the Germany of coal by 2038, despite the criticisms of environmentalists in the country, who want to go faster.

“We started a project generation output of the coal. This is an important decision, which shows the way, ” said the Economy minister, Peter Altmaier, to the outcome of the vote of the two chambers of the German Parliament, the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.

The day was marked by actions of environmental activists denouncing the content of this law, which fixed, according to them, a course too far to the output of the coal and provides for compensation that is too high for the operators of the mines to close.

The Greenpeace activists deployed in front of the Reichstag building, under the inscription “in The name of the people” engraved on its front, a large banner calling for ” A future without coal “.

“Civil society will continue to work towards the elimination of coal compatible with the Paris Agreement by 2030 in Germany,” said Christoph Bals of the NGO Germanwatch.

Inside the building, the Economics minister, Peter Altmaier, has defended his text in front of the Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament, believing that ” the age of fossil fuels ends up irreparably in Germany with this decision.”

He has urged opponents to “not minimize” the text.

While Germany sets a timetable for the closure of older coal-fired plants, starting with a first block end of 2020, it leaves paradoxically the new power plant “Datteln 4” to enter service in the west of the country, much to the chagrin of the activists anti-coal.

Adopted by the Council of ministers at the end of January after months of negotiations under the increasing pressure of the defenders of the climate, the law on the end of the coal (” Kohleverstromungsbeendigungsgesetz “) indicates that the maturity of 2038 to the end of the coal could be brought forward of three years on the basis of the balance sheets of step being carried out in 2026 and 2029.

Berlin has also promised to 4.35 billion euros of compensation to be divided between operators of coal-fired power plants, while 40 billion euros will go to several mining areas to help them bounce back after the release of this energy from fossil fuels.

In a plan adopted in December, Germany has set itself the goal of reducing 55 % of the emissions of greenhouse gas by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, while it is already guaranteed to miss its climate goals for 2020.

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