Germany is now ‘dramatically behind’ its CO2 emissions target shortly after it abandoned half of its remaining nuclear plants, calling the tech ‘dangerous’.
Germany’s Climate Minister, Robert Habeck has said that Germany is “dramatically behind” its emissions targets for 2030, just weeks after the country abandoned half of its remaining nuclear power plants.
Habeck now says that the country has a “gigantic task” ahead should it still wish to achieve its goal of making itself climate neutral.
According to a report by Euronews, a sudden surge in the country’s emissions is in part a result of the nation’s decision to abandon nuclear power by the end of 2022.
This shift away from the technology has meant Germany has increased its reliance on coal-fired power plants.
Germany has been one of the group of EU member states to decry the bloc’s recent inclusion of nuclear energy in its “taxonomy of environmentally sustainable economic activities”.
Alongside gas, Nuclear power is being included in the taxonomy within a so-called “amber” category.
Habeck has lambasted the EU over the technology’s inclusion, saying that it represented the watering down of “the good label for sustainability”, and that it was “questionable whether this greenwashing will even find acceptance on the financial market”.
Another spokesman for the country emphasised that it “expressly rejects” the EU’s decision.
“We consider nuclear technology to be dangerous,” the spokesman said.
Germany’s criticisms of the EU’s inclusion of nuclear within its green taxonomy echoes those made by climate activists Greta Thunberg.
The Swedish 19-year-old had lambasted the bloc’s decision, accusing the EU of engaging in “fake climate activism”.
“As climate activists have been battling to ensure taxonomy paves the way for real climate action, the “leaders” have been working hard on rebranding fossil gas and nuclear power to ‘sustainable’, when they are neither sustainable nor green,” reads an opinion piece on the topic co-authored by Thunberg. “This could turn into a real life climate-nightmare.”
According to Euronews, climate activists in Germany have also rallied against the measure, with some installing a fake power plant made of cardboard outside the Federal Chancellery to protest nuclear technology.
“Scholz: No green stamp for nuclear and gas,” read one banner held by a protester.
Germany has aimed to have 80 per cent of its power originate from renewable sources by 2030, as well as to cut emissions from 1990 levels in the country by 65 per cent, according to a report by The Guardian.