By Andreas Hoenig, dpa
The head of Germany’s chamber of commerce network has called for a shift in climate and energy policy, warning that the current course risks harming large parts of industry.
“I believe we have now recognised how the path we are on, without correction, is ruining important parts of industry,” Peter Adrian, president of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), told dpa.
He warned of deindustrialization with what he described as absurd consequences. “We would then import products that we can already manufacture very efficiently and in a climate-friendly way at home from countries where they are produced less efficiently and with higher CO2 emissions,” Adrian said.
Germany needed a different approach to climate and energy policy, Adrian said, adding that Berlin should stop “playing the know-it-all for the rest of the world” and instead focus on working more closely with other countries.
The DIHK does not oppose the goal of climate neutrality, he stressed, but criticizes the path towards it and the high costs of the transition, particularly in the energy sector.
A study commissioned by the DIHK found that the energy transition under the current strategy was far too expensive and beyond what companies could manage. Cost drivers included investment in power grids, the transformation of industrial processes and new power plants, compounded by high energy prices by international standards.
Adrian called for internationally coordinated climate policy, noting that Germany accounts for around 1.5% of global emissions.
While Germany has cut CO2 emissions by 48% compared with 1990 levels, many other industrialized nations have increased theirs, he said.
Referring to EU rules allowing limited international offsetting, Adrian cited reforestation in the Brazilian rainforest as an example of effective CO2 compensation.
From a global climate perspective, Adrian said it mattered less what Germany did on its own. More important for the outcome, he added, was being more successful worldwide, which would require greater pragmatism.
