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Germany's Merkel wants green recovery from coronavirus crisis

"Morrison’s Colossal Bullshit
"UN climate talks: what's on the agenda in Madrid and what it means for Australia""

This is good news from Germany and great to see so many companies stepping forward on the climate question.

Michael Nienaber, Markus Wacket

April 29, 2020 / 12:04 AM / Updated 3 minutes ago

BERLIN (Reuters) - Governments should focus on climate protection when considering fiscal stimulus packages to support an economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday.

FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a media statement after a video conference of EU leaders on the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Berlin, Germany, April 23, 2020. Michel Kappeler/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Her comments are the clearest sign yet that Merkel wants to combine the task of helping companies recover from the pandemic with the challenge of setting more incentives for reducing carbon emissions.

Speaking at a virtual climate summit known as the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, Merkel said she expected difficult discussions about how to design post-crisis stimulus measures and about which business sectors need more help than others.

“It will be all the more important that if we set up economic stimulus programmes, we must always keep a close eye on climate protection,” Merkel said, adding the focus should be laid on supporting modern technologies and renewable energies.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the conference there could be an opportunity for the world in the “dark times” of the coronavirus crisis.

“The restart can lead to a healthier and more resilient world for everyone,” he said.

Merkel said governments should pull in private-sector money through international financial markets to finance the costly shift towards a more climate-friendly economy.

Proposals discussed by senior members of Merkel’s ruling coalition for a post-coronavirus stimulus package include a higher cash incentive for buying electric cars.

Merkel also welcomed the more ambitious goal set by the European Commission, the European Union’s executive, of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.

A “STEP FORWARD”

Christoph Bals from Germanwatch, an environment protection group, said it was an important step forward for Merkel to put her weight behind the EU climate target.

“She now has the task, as the future EU Council president, to actually link the corona stimulus programmes with the climate targets in such a way that at least a 55-percent EU target for 2030 can also be formally adopted this year,” Bals said.

Germany will hold the EU presidency in the second half of this year.

The EU agreed last week to build a trillion-euro recovery fund to revive economies ravaged by the pandemic and has already signed off on state aid worth 1.8 trillion euros ($1.95 trillion).

So far, the European Commission has not attached “green” conditions when approving aid from national budgets, as the health crisis takes priority.

But Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has said the trillion euro package, being drafted for review around mid-May, would boost her Green Deal plan to cut EU net emissions to zero by 2050.

Editing by Paul Carrel and Timothy Heritage

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-accord-germany/germanys-merkel-wants-green-recovery-from-coronavirus-crisis-idUSKCN22A28H

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Germany: 68 companies call on Govt. to ensure COVID-19 recovery measures are in line with Paris Agreement

Ahead of this week's digital Petersberg Climate Dialogue, an annual ministerial summit organised by the German government in preparation for the UN climate conference, both top German politicians and an alliance of 68 large German and international companies, separately urged the German Government to ensure COVID-19 economic stimulus packages are climate-friendly.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has also said that climate is on the agenda for the German EU Council presidency in the second half of 2020. Indeed, calls for a green recovery and the European Green Deal to be placed at the heart of the EU’s post COVID-19 recovery plan have been growing in recent weeks, for more information on the Green Recovery Alliance see here.

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Article
27 April 2020

For crisis management and a sustainable future: Making our economy more resilient with a climate stimulus programme

Author: Stiftung 2°

It is now essential to support the economy with short-term measures to help it on its way out of the corona crisis... The planned medium and longer-term economic aid measures must not only provide an economic stimulus, but also contribute to our common goal: a resilient economy and society that achieves climate neutrality through a high level of innovation and competitiveness.

We, businesses from all sectors of the German economy, therefore, call upon the Federal Government:

1. Closely link economic policy measures aimed at overcoming the corona and climate crises and systematically ensure that all relevant stimulus and investment programmes are climate-friendly...

2. Build on climate policy successes and consistently continue to design and implement climate policy measures...

3. Preserve and increase the competitiveness of the German and European economies by resolutely crafting an ambitious and constructive Green Deal and develop it as a European innovation and growth strategy that also contributes to the mastering of the impacts of the corona crisis...

4. Work to ensure that all countries present ambitious climate commitments in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement by the next UN Climate Change Conference at the latest...

Read the full post here ..
https://www.stiftung2grad.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Statement-climate-stimulus-programm_EN-2.pdf

Related stories: Germany: 68 companies call on Govt. to ensure COVID-19 recovery measures are in line with Paris Agreement
https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/germany-68-companies-call-on-govt-to-ensure-covid-19-recovery-measures-are-in-line-with-paris-agreement

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/germany-68-companies-call-on-govt-to-ensure-covid-19-recovery-measures-are-in-line-with-paris-agreement