German transport commission feels the pressure

(EurActiv, 1 Apr 2019) Germany’s mobility commission presented its progress report last week but critics see the proposals as lacking ambition. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Last week, the Working Group for climate change presented its progress report to Germany’s National Platform Future of Mobility. But there have been public criticisms.

There are rumours that there is a lack of even minimum consensus and measures that are too weak to reach the needed cuts of between 40% to 42% of CO2 by 2030 in the transport sector.

It should be noted that the compromise reached is already an achievement given that the commission had been under political pressure since the beginning, according to Daniel Rieger, who was present during the meetings of the Working Group.

“We were able to agree on two-thirds of the measures, which is remarkable in itself,” said Rieger, who leads the transport policy section at NABU.

Even so, various environmental associations have criticised the progress report and characterised it as being “in no way satisfactory”.

The proposals would reportedly never reach the required CO2 emissions levels. Between 16 and 26 million tons of emissions would still be unaccounted for, according to calculations made by Klimareporter.

The proposed investments worth €160-250 million are essentially “measures to feel better”, Rieger insisted.

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EurActiv, 1 Apr 2019: German transport commission feels the pressure