Germany unblocks means for the protection of the planet. Under the pressure of massive demonstrations across the country, the parties of the fragile coalition government Angela Merkel have snapped up on Friday, September 20, a climate strategy representing at least 100 billion euros worth of investment. here 2030.

This sum will be invested "for climate protection and the energy transition", according to the final text of an agreement reached after more than 18 hours of bitter negotiations between the Chancellor's Conservatives and the Social Democrats. The government plans to spend 54 billion euros for the first four years of the plan, by 2023, told the press the Minister of Finance, Olaf Scholz.

The challenge is to take steps to encourage Germans to reduce pollutant emissions, and allow the country, now lagging behind, to meet its targets for reducing pollutant emissions. The text, which provides, for example, € 86 billion in investments distributed between the government and Deutsche Bahn for the sole renovation of railways, still needs to be adopted in the Council of Ministers.

The announcement comes as tens of thousands of protesters, 100,000 according to the organizers, had gathered in Berlin at the iconic Brandenburg Gate, on this day of a global strike action for climate protection.

On their placards were slogans such as "when you have done your homework, we will do ours!", "There is no planet B" or "Thank you Greta", the Swedish muse behind the movement "FridaysforFuture".

>> To read also: Massive mobilization of youth around the world

A "confused" strategy for the Greens

The mobilization should be particularly well followed in Germany, where environmentalists have the wind in their sails and chain electoral success. In total, demonstrations are to take place in 575 German cities, "the unheard of," said the spokesman of the German movement FridaysforFuture, Luisa Neubauer on Twitter.

The latter has already rejected the plan presented by the government, criticizing its lack of ambition. The co-president of the Greens, Robert Habeck, for his part has criticized a strategy in his eyes "confused". The parties have been particularly contentious about its financing, made extremely complicated by the fact that the government refuses to incur new debts, in accordance with its policy of budgetary orthodoxy of "Schwarze Null".

The difficulty was to have a sufficiently high price of gasoline, diesel or gas to encourage consumers to opt for the least polluting solutions, but at the same time not to provoke public outcry, for example of the yellow vests movement in France.

In concrete terms, the government's strategy includes a range of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in energy, construction, agriculture, industry and transportation. This goes from the promotion of public transport and trains, to the increase in the price of air travel in Germany. Another means put on the table: the introduction of various subsidies for the development of electric cars or for efficient and clean individual heating.

Development of solar energy

At the same time, it is a question of putting a boost on the development of clean energies (solar, wind or biomass), whose share in the production of electricity in the country must rise to 65% in 2030 against 40% currently.

The pressure on the Merkel government is great: it must meet the expectations of the mobilization initiated by the young people of "FutureforFridays". An agreement was essential for the survival of the coalition itself, which has been very fragile since its difficult constitution last year.

Social Democrat Finance Minister Olaf Scholz had directly linked the continuation of the unpopular coalition in Germany to the development of a "major climate project".

Germany has decided earlier this year to abandon coal by 2038, but it still has to program the closure of its mines and power plants. A site all the more delicate that it must parallel to complete by 2022 its exit from nuclear power, decided in 2011 after the disaster of Fukushima.

With AFP