German climate plan to include CO2 targets for all sectors -draft

By Markus Wacket

BERLIN, Nov 7 (Reuters) - The German government has reached a tentative agreement on a Climate Action Plan that includes targets for all economic sectors and aims to reduce C02 emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared with 1990, senior officials said on Monday.

Most ministers had already voted in favour of the new plan and a veto by the remaining ministers was unlikely, senior government officials told Reuters. They said the cabinet was expected to approve the plan on Wednesday.

The plan lays out how Europe's biggest economy will move away from fossil fuels and achieve its objective of cutting CO2 emissions by 95 percent by 2050. It is based on pledges made as part of a global climate treaty clinched in Paris last December.

If approved by cabinet, Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks could present Germany's Climate Action Plan at the next round of global climate talks in Morocco next week.

Resistance from ministries, in particular transport and agriculture run by Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, had led to a delay and increased the risk for Hendricks, a senior Social Democrat, to go to the Morocco talks empty-handed.

But the latest draft seen by Reuters showed that the plan now includes CO2 reduction targets for all sectors through 2030, provisions that had initially been dropped in previous versions.

To make the European Union's carbon trading scheme more effective, the government also calls for the "introduction of a minimum price" for the certificates, the draft shows.

The energy sector is expected to reduce its CO2 emissions by 170-180 tonnes by 2030 which would be a cut of 61-64 percent compared to 1990, according to the latest draft.

CO2 emissions by buildings should be reduced by 70-80 tonnes through heat insulation and other measure which would amount to a reduction of 62-67 percent compared to 1990.