If the reform of the climate protection law agreed within the traffic light coalition does not come into force in time, the Federal Ministry of Transport wants to present its own immediate climate protection program. “If it is necessary, i.e. if the legal situation is that way at the time, then we will of course present an immediate program,” said a spokesman for the FDP-led ministry on Wednesday in Berlin.
However, one is confident that the decisions of the coalition committee for a reform would be implemented “promptly”. “And it is quite possible that the new climate protection law and the associated climate protection program of the federal government will be passed before the summer break.”
The background is an agreement by the traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP on a reform of the climate protection law. So far, individual ministers have had to submit an immediate climate protection program if climate targets are missed in their area. The current deadline for this is mid-July. In the future, the federal government should make adjustments overall, albeit “on the basis of the proposals” of the mainly responsible ministries – if it becomes apparent in two consecutive years that the climate target for 2030 will not be achieved.
Statements by deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner on Monday caused irritation among the Greens. The leader of the parliamentary group, Katharina Dröge, asked Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) for clarification on Tuesday. The spokesman for the Ministry of Transport said on Monday that he was assuming that the revised climate protection law would come into force so quickly that the obligation for transport to have its own immediate climate protection program – which is currently not meeting its climate targets – would no longer apply. Büchner described these statements as correct and said with regard to the basic agreement on a reform between the SPD, Greens and FDP: “There is now a different decision-making situation.”
When asked, Büchner emphasized on Wednesday: “Nothing that was said here has ever questioned the fact that a law naturally applies until a new one is passed. However, there is a valid legal situation that is also binding for everyone. ” At the same time, there are the decisions of the coalition committee. “And the federal government jointly assumes that they will all be implemented now.”
