Winfried Kretschmann advises holidays in Europe and criticises Robert Habeck

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Winfried Kretschmann, Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg: "In the future, it will not be possible without impositions"

Photograph:

Bernd Weißbrod / dpa

"The washcloth is also a useful invention": With these words, Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann last year called for austerity in view of the looming gas crisis. In addition, he usually only heats one room in his home.

The Green politician is despised and loved for his shirt-sleeved manner – and a statement that Kretschmann made in an interview with Die Zeit is likely to fall into the same category. When asked about the existence of a "green renunciation debate", Kretschmann reacted so annoyed that you can almost read it from the text: "Is it really a loss of well-being if you do without a flight to Bali?" he said. Instead, he recommended a vacation in Europe. This, too, is offered by "nature and culture".

Kretschmann referred to an increasingly uncertain world situation in the face of climate change. "At the same time, we will have to spend more money in the future on the important things in life, on energy, on food and security." There is less left for less important things. "In the future, it will not be possible without impositions. It's going to hurt."

Criticism of Habeck and the »Last Generation«

Kretschmann criticized Economics Minister Robert Habeck (also a Green) for his approach to the heating debate – but more on the question of moderation than on the content. "He didn't have a good run and was too fast." Politics is a pragmatic event where you can't put your head through the wall. It is "a question of foresight to respond to criticism and then work out solutions and compromises". The heat transition is not the country's biggest problem – and so it doesn't matter "a few months" or not.

Kretschmann made a similar statement about the climate activists of the "Last Generation": Their "dystopian doomsday narrative" was unjustified. Germany emits two percent of the world's greenhouse gases and will not stop climate change. "Our task is: As a leading high-tech country, we have to show that we can quickly achieve the transformation to a climate-neutral business location and that we do not lose people without financial assets in the process," said Kretschmann.

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