Germany: Many Challenges in Energy Transition for President Steinmeier
The transition should be organized in a way that avoids social upheaval and preserves the industrial base
Implementing plans to rapidly achieve carbon neutrality, which, among other things, includes banning the sale of cars equipped with traditional internal combustion engines in Europe starting 2035, is a “tough task.”
In a speech delivered at a climate seminar organized at the United Nations campus in Bonn, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (pictured) said that to stop dangerous climate change, “we must pursue a threefold goal: decarbonization, while preserving the industrial base, and at the same time organizing the transition in a way that avoids social upheaval.
Instead of proclaiming risky and elusive goals, the world’s industrialized nations should build broad and accessible bridges to climate neutrality for all. We must harmonize climate protection with quality of life and social security,” emphasized the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, referring to recent announcements of mass layoffs in Germany and many other European countries that find themselves “in the middle of the transition process to climate neutrality.”
According to Steinmeier, “the crisis can only be overcome through international, European, and bilateral cooperation, with a close exchange of technology and policy.”
