At the end of their party conference in Bonn, the Greens will also discuss controversial decisions by their own ministers on climate policy. Among others, Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, Environment Minister Steffi Lemke and Fridays for Future activist Luisa Neubauer are expected to give speeches.
Even before the party congress, the coal agreement concluded between the green-led economics ministries in the federal government and in North Rhine-Westphalia and the energy company RWE caused debate and criticism. This provides for the phase-out of coal in the Rhenish mining area to be brought forward by eight years to 2030. At the same time, in view of the current energy crisis, two lignite-fired power plants are to run longer than previously planned. The Lützerath settlement in North Rhine-Westphalia, which is a symbol of the climate protection movement, is to be demolished in order to mine coal there.
Green youth fights for coal phase-out
The co-head of the Green Youth, Timon Dzienus, explained that the youth organization wanted to continue fighting for Lützerath and a quick exit from coal. “In the past few days, new reports have raised considerable doubts about the decision made to dig up Lützerath, which we believe must be clarified,” he told the German Press Agency.
“We owe it to the climate movement to make such a far-reaching decision as on Lützerath on a basis that leaves no unanswered questions or doubts,” said Dzienus. The report on which the decision is based must be checked for the climate targets and also for the permissible emissions of greenhouse gases. A temporary moratorium on evictions is needed. “No facts of destruction must be created now.”
Guns for Ukraine, Solidarity with Iran
About 800 delegates discussed foreign and security policy yesterday. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock received a lot of encouragement, but also criticism. Above all, the approval of arms exports to the Islamic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the initially somewhat cautious statements made by the German government about the massive protests in Iran met with a lack of understanding among some of the around 800 delegates on Saturday. The Greens expressed great solidarity with refugees from Afghanistan and the protesting women in Iran.
The Greens voted overwhelmingly in favor of supplying more arms to Ukraine. Delegates rejected several motions that criticized this as a departure from the party’s pacifist tradition.
In the evening, the delegates also dealt with ten motions that had landed on the agenda at the request of the party’s grassroots. Among other things, the delegates called for the expansion of national cycle paths with federal funds. They also instructed the parliamentary group to advocate tighter penalties in cases of abuse in religious or ideological institutions. In the future, perpetrators will face a prison sentence of up to five years if they take advantage of an advisory or support relationship. This corresponds to an existing penal regulation that includes, among other things, the abuse of addicts by their therapists.
Demand for a new rule in organ donation
From the point of view of the Greens, the federal government should ensure that the measures of the law to improve the structures in organ donation are supplemented by an objection regulation. In other states that have opted for this, this has not resulted in people who do not want it having their organs removed after their death.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) was asked by the Greens delegates to quickly take care of reforms to protect critical infrastructure. So-called critical infrastructure includes, for example, power stations, transport routes and healthcare. Sabotage against the Nord Stream pipelines, Deutsche Bahn and the power outage on the Danish island of Bornholm have shown how acute the problem is, said party leader Omid Nouripour.
Greens for the party conference
