A broad climate alliance views the current energy crisis as an urgent necessity for a turning point in energy, heating, and transport policy. Deutscher Naturschutzring (DNR), BUND, Campact, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Germanwatch, Greenpeace, NABU and WWF are therefore demanding an unprecedented package of measures and investments from the German federal government to achieve genuine energy sovereignty. According to the alliance's analysis, the steps planned by the federal government to date are insufficient to break free from fossil dependency at the necessary pace. In an open letter and a joint appeal to the federal government, the organisations outline the investments and measures actually required to reduce energy consumption and boost renewable energies. "The coalition government must do more to ensure Germany becomes independent of fossil fuels as quickly as possible," the organisations stated. "Merely halting dependency on Russian imports is not enough. We require a fundamental restructuring."
In the open letter, the NGOs evaluate the funding for energy security presented to date by Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner. The breakdown reveals that the federal government does not plan to increase investments, but has merely aggregated already scheduled items. "Thus far, there has been no turning point in the financing of the necessary transition," the signatories note in the letter. In addition to the items already planned, additional funds amounting to 100 billion euros over the next four years are necessary, according to the alliance. Only in this way can Germany rapidly reduce its consumption of fossil fuels and realign its imports.
The following are proposed as concrete measures for a genuine turning point in energy, heating, and transport policy:
A massive acceleration of the expansion of wind power and solar energy and the launch of an energy-saving programme to achieve 100 percent renewable electricity by 2035.
A support programme for at least one million efficient heat pumps in the heating sector, an immediate ban on the installation of oil and gas heating systems, and a skilled crafts training offensive.
A speed limit in transport to immediately save fuel, and no new registrations of internal combustion engine vehicles from 2030 at the latest, combined with massive investments in cycling infrastructure, public transport, and rail networks.
The letter is available here (DNR server) as a PDF (2.2 MB).
ElasmOcean (indirectly involved as a member of the DNR) explicitly endorses these demands.
