German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday rejected demands to postpone the release date to stop coal production in Germany, which is currently set to 2038.
“Victims need some safety on the road to climate neutrality,” Merkel was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Climate activists say the more ambitious climate protection goals that the Merkel government have just agreed on cannot be achieved without a complete ditching of coal.
The German government presented the plan of restructuring of the national economy so that by the end of this decade to reduce the volume of greenhouse gas emissions by 60% compared to the current permitted level, and by 2045 to achieve "climate neutrality". The government was forced to move forward the goals of the first stage by 10 years after the constitutional court ruled unconstitutional to shift the implementation of the plan to the next generation.
The global coal industry is betting that it can survive the global decarbonization of the industry and save fossil fuels as an energy source, relying on carbon capture technology, said last week the head of the World Coal Association.
