The COVID-19 pandemic’s effects are expected to cause a deep recession in Europe and elsewhere. A key German politician thinks the EU’s climate targets should be deferred in the face of the potential economic crisis. The coronavirus crisis calls for an urgent review of Germany’s climate targets under goals set by the European Union, the leader of the economic council of the conservative Christian Democrat party (CDU) said on Saturday.
The COVID-19 pandemic is “putting the German economy to the test,” and the EU should consider a “deferment of climate policy targets,” Wolfgang Steiger said in comments published in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Steiger said the fallout from the pandemic on the economy could amount to a new “de-industrialization” of Germany. Experts are predicting a global recession as a result of the business shutdown and subsequent layoffs.
Germany has offered financial aid for many businesses and individuals affected by lockdowns and social distancing measures. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government pledged €750 billion in emergency aid funding in March to prop up the economy. Small companies and freelancers are eligible for up to €15,000 in direct subsidies, while larger companies can be stabilized with larger capital funds. Despite the huge stimulus, Steiger told the paper the German economy could, for now, do without the financial burden of climate change goals.
However, Germany’s environment minister, Svenja Schulze, warned against “connecting climate protection and economic prosperity.” It may be possible “to use the exit from the corona crisis to promote climate-compatible and sustainable economic structures,” she said. Meanwhile, Jennifer Morgan of the environmental activist group Greenpeace is among those who believe the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the weaknesses of the global economic system.
Source: DW
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