Following the Federal Constitutional Court’s budget ruling, the President of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Dirk Messner, called for climate-damaging subsidies to be reduced. Answers must now be found quickly as to how the ecological transformation will be financed if the funds from the climate fund are no longer available, he told the German Press Agency on Thursday. “Additional financial leeway can be gained if the federal government quickly reduces environmentally and climate-damaging subsidies.” According to UBA calculations, in 2018 these would have amounted to at least 65.4 billion euros.
Messner pointed out that the G7 countries – the seven leading industrialized countries – had already agreed in May 2016 to end climate-damaging subsidies for oil, gas and coal by 2025. “A roadmap could now be drawn up as to how the environmentally harmful subsidies in Germany can be dismantled, as has already been agreed internationally,” said the UBA President. “A prime example of this is the energy tax relief for diesel, which promotes sales of diesel vehicles and hinders the switch to electromobility.” The company car privilege, which has so far primarily promoted the sale of large combustion cars and benefited upper income groups, should also be abolished.
