Transport: Greens and FDP get bogged down in climate protection

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Federal Transport Minister Wissing (FDP) – actually he should propose legal measures

Photograph:

Florian Gärtner / photothek / IMAGO

Climate protection in the transport sector has not made any progress for years. For the second year in a row, the sector is tearing up the goals to which the federal government has legally committed itself. According to current figures from the Federal Environment Agency, greenhouse gas emissions rose to 148 million tonnes last year. Actually, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) should therefore propose legal measures.

According to calculations by the German government's Council of Experts on Climate Issues, this immediate programme would have to achieve emission savings of a further 261 million tonnes in the transport sector in order for Germany to achieve its 2030 climate targets. At the moment, however, no progress is being made on legislative proposals that could bring about such savings. On the contrary, there is still no agreement between the FDP and the Greens in the dispute over more climate protection in transport.

A number of bills are to be passed by the Federal Cabinet next week. Specifically, it is about the amendment to the Climate Protection Act, in which the CO₂ targets of the individual ministries are laid down. The FDP apparently does not want to accept the draft presented by Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens).

The reason for this, in turn, is the refusal of the Habeck ministry to agree to the planned amendment of road traffic law in the FDP-led Ministry of Transport. Among other things, it is intended to create the possibility for municipalities to set up more 30 km/h roads. Many municipalities and the Greens are calling for a 30 km/h speed limit instead of the previous 50 km/h speed limit to become standard. But the FDP is reluctant to do so.

In a compromise, it was agreed that instead the municipalities would be given further criteria with which they can set up a speed limit of 30 km/h in a street. These could include playgrounds, for example, but also environmental criteria.

No attempt at conciliation so far

Green transport politician Stefan Gelbhaar is calling for "more legroom" for municipalities so that they can ensure "more safety and quality of life on site". The blockade of the coalition partners was supposed to be solved by a meeting of the responsible ministers Habeck and Volker Wissing (FDP). So far, however, the attempt at conciliation has not taken place.

Also affected is a regulation that is intended to make the truck toll more expensive. A large part of the additional revenue is to be used for the renovation backlog at the railway. 45 billion euros have not yet been securely financed.

The coalition had agreed at its 30-hour marathon meeting in March that this sum should be raised primarily through the road toll for trucks. Gelbhaar calls on the Ministry of Transport to present the law quickly. The freight forwarding industry needs planning security when it comes to truck tolls. "A cabinet decision would help a good deal."