Environmental activists protest against climate damage in Berlin, Germany, in 2018. Picture: REUTERS/FABRIZIO BENSCHThe German parliament on Friday formally approved a wide-ranging package of climate policy reforms, in what will be a relief to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government as it faces growing pressure to take environmental action.
Merkel said on Monday that the carbon price compromise was a “positive contrast” to the lack of progress at the global COP25 climate conference a day earlier. “The different parties ... showed a willingness to tend towards a solution without letting things go on forever,” she said. Yet the climate package has faced criticism from environmentalists and business lobbyists alike. The new COprice — which has yet to be passed into law — has sparked outrage among business groups. The compromise will see businesses pay a starting rate of €25 per ton of carbon they use from January, and will be eventually incorporated into an EU-wide carbon trading system.