What are your expectations regarding Germany’s planned Climate Action Law? What needs to be included in the law to make sure the country lives up to its promises made in the Paris Agreement’s framework and what are its possible risks and pitfalls?

The Climate Action Law needs to set concrete sectoral climate targets and describe solid pathways for reducing CO2 emissions in the coming years. All ministries must share responsibility for achieving these targets and – in case that the EU targets are not reached – contribute to possible fees according to their respective responsibilities.

Also, the [65 percent-share by 2030] target for renewable energy sources [in power consumption] needs to be increased and ceilings to a rapid development need to be withdrawn, and measures for energy efficiency as well as energy savings need to be better coordinated.

And there must be room for private involvement, as citizens have shaped the energy transition in the past and will be a dynamic component of it also in the future. The more citizens can contribute and benefit, the more the Energiewende will be rooted in and accepted by society.

What has been your impression of the work done by Germany’s coal exit commission so far? Will it be enough to help Germany regain a leadership role in the international energy transition?

Even though our impression is that not all members do fully recognise the urgency of the climate crisis, everyone appears to be interested in achieving a result supported by all parties.