Project Background
It seemed unlikely at the time of the study (2017) that Germany would reach its self-imposed climate protection targets for 2020. The emissions of the German State North Rhine-Westfalia (NRW) alone account for 32 % of German emissions (as of 2014). The prepared short study examined the influence that the political decisions taken by the then newly elected parties CDU and FDP in their coalition agreement of 2017 would have on the achievement of the German climate protection goals.
Type and scope of services
Arepo analyzed the coalition agreement regarding the impact on the achievement of emission reductions. With its commitment to lignite, the newly-elected state government did not do anything so that Germany could still reach its climate targets. Moreover, it was not apparent from the black-and-yellow coalition agreement that any work was to be carried out in NRW regarding a socially acceptable exit from lignite. Instead, the treaty also included a number of proposals for state and federal levels that seemed made to severely restrict the expansion of renewable energies. Thus, the new NRW-government left climate protection either to other states that would have to make higher contributions, or the federal government, which would have to crack harder in climate protection. However, climate protection potentials that could be as quickly exploited as in the lignite sector would hardly be found in Germany. The study concludes that the nationwide emissions would even increase if the black-and-yellow NRW state government would enforce its goals as proposed.
The study was received in numerous media throughout Germany.