In order to comply with the Climate Protection Act, Transport Minister Volker Wissing warns of the need for driving bans on weekends. Is he right?
Berlin - Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) initiated a new debate about the federal government's climate protection law on Friday (April 12). On Thursday, Wissing wrote to the leaders of the traffic light parties in the Bundestag calling for approval of the reform of the Climate Protection Act. If they didn't do this, driving bans would soon have to be introduced on weekends so that the climate requirements in the transport sector would be met. As a result of the amendment, it will no longer be necessary in the future for climate protection requirements to be adhered to in every area. Instead, compliance is checked across sectors.
Environmentalists sue Wissing – verdict on May 16th
Green transport politician Stefan Gelbhaar then accused Wissing of “dangerous disinformation”. “Even the court’s obligation to finally present a proper climate protection program includes zero obligation to impose driving bans,” Gelbhaar told
Stern.
If the revised law does not come into force before July 15, 2024, the Federal Ministry of Transport would have to present an immediate program “that ensures compliance with the annual emissions volumes of the transport sector in the coming years up to 2030,” warned Wissing. Such a drastic and immediate reduction can only be achieved with driving bans on all weekends.
According to the editorial network Germany (RND),
German Environmental Aid (DUH) had
sued the federal government for inadequate measures to comply with the immediate climate protection program in the transport sector. The verdict should therefore be made on May 16th before the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court. DUH Federal Managing Director Jürgen Resch told the
RND
newspapers that he was now expecting a ruling that would oblige the Ministry of Transport to implement an immediate program.
Climate protection: 22 million CO₂ equivalents must be saved in the transport sector
The Climate Protection Act stipulates that Germany will reduce emissions by 65 percent compared to 1990 by 2030. Clear targets were set for individual sectors – industry, transport, energy, buildings. If these are not achieved, the sectors will have to make adjustments with immediate programs. In 2023, the two areas of transport and buildings will have missed their targets.
It was initially not clear to what extent driving bans could help meet the sector's transport goals. This year, 22 million tons of CO₂ equivalents would have to be saved in transport in order to achieve the goals. At the request of
Wirtschaftswoche
, the Ministry of Transport wrote that it did not want to go into details about what driving bans could look like. Ultimately, this worst-case scenario should not happen.
According to the DUH, this step would not be necessary. “It is a cheap sleight of hand to paint driving bans on the wall on weekends,” complains DUH managing director Resch in a statement. “With this, the Automobile Minister Wissing is finally opening up a political debate about realistic and short-term possible other measures in the transport sector, how the necessary 22 million tons of CO₂ savings per year can be achieved in the short term. A speed limit of 100 on motorways, 80 outside towns and 30 in the city alone saves more than half of the amount at over 11 million tonnes. Further measures could include the abolition of the company car privilege and a reduction in the rail usage fee for freight transport, Resch continued .
“Weekend driving bans for citizens are not necessary to bring the transport sector on course for climate change. The majority of the population demands a speed limit. We will stop Wissing's ongoing violation of the law with our climate lawsuits and prevent the planned gutting of the Climate Protection Act."
FDP categorically rejects speed limit
The Federal Environment Agency also sees no need for driving bans. Dirk Messner, the head of the authority, told
Spiegel:
“Such bans are not seriously discussed and scare people for no reason.” He also called for a speed limit to reduce emissions. This alone could save a total of 38 million tons of CO₂ by 2030. “That’s around 20 percent of the existing gap.” The company car privilege is also a climate-damaging subsidy and should be abolished; this is also “overdue from a social perspective.” The FDP and Volker Wissing, on the other hand, categorically reject a speed limit on motorways.
Meanwhile, the DUH expected consequences for its legal proceedings against the Minister of Transport. “I welcome the fact that Volker Wissing indirectly admits that the climate protection law works and that he, as federal minister, has been actively violating it for two and a half years,” Resch told the
RND
.
The court will also take this into account in his association's lawsuit against the minister, he continued. “Wissing has admitted that the lawsuit, which will be heard in the Higher Administrative Court in five weeks, forces him to finally comply with the law.”
With material from AFP