Ten thought-provoking impulses for greater climate protection

2022 DIALOGUE FORUMS

We need to take a more ambitious approach and should see climate protection as an opportunity rather than a threat. Ten thought-provoking impulses from the expert discussions at the Dialogue Forums that could point the way towards climate neutrality.

15 March 2023

1) We must expand emissions trading

Ottmar Edenhofer — PROF. OTTMAR EDENHOFER, Director and Chief Economist of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Director of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, Berlin

Carbon emission rights allow a state or company to emit a certain quantity of gases that damage the climate. Since 2005, emissions trading has been the key instrument used by the EU to reduce greenhouse gases from the energy industry and energy-intensive sectors. Climate scientists like Ottmar Edenhofer, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, argued that mandatory emissions trading should be extended to include the transport and building sectors. In Germany, these two sectors were responsible for roughly one third of all carbon emissions in 2021. Since this would increase the cost for transport and housing, any potential economic or social upheaval could be neutralised in the form of compensation payments.

2) We need a cross-border system for financial equalisation

“Phase out coal, otherwise we will be slamming the door shut on the 1.5-degree target,” was one of the warnings from the Dialogue Forums. We should therefore assist countries that burn coal to make the transition by arriving at bilateral cooperation arrangements with them. “International partnerships are enormously important, but there is nothing even remotely to be found in the German Climate Change Act,” was a complaint from Remo Klinger from the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development. One possible arrangement would be if industrialised countries paid into an investment fund, which, in turn, covered a portion of the transformation costs for developing countries. The UN Green ClimateFund, whose aims include a reduction in greenhouse gases and adaptation to the consequences of climate change in emerging and developing countries, is moving in this direction. However, with financial commitments of just US$ 11.4bn, it has nowhere near enough funds.

Annual climate financing gap in the Global South (status 2020)

Data basis: Climate Policy Initiative (2022) and LSE (2022)

3) No climate neutrality without green hydrogen

Even if hydrogen is obtained from “green” production, it should only be seen as one building block in the overall energy transition.

PROF. CLAUDIA KEMFERT

Head of the Energy, Transportation and Environment Department of the German Institute for Economic Research, Berlin

“We need green hydrogen if we are to achieve climate neutrality,” argued Sopna Sury, a member of the Executive Board at energy provider RWE. Green hydrogen, which is obtained from renewable energy, is used as a storage medium and has a broad range of applications in industry and in the transport sector. Germany plans to double its electrolysis production for hydrogen to ten gigawatts by 2030. This seems a relatively small amount when compared with the target capacity of 200 gigawatts for solar energy. Claudia Kemfert therefore emphasised that, even if hydrogen is obtained from “green” production, it should only be seen as one building block in the overall energy transition. “The triad of renewable energies, energy saving and hydrogen is the right way to go,” agreed Andreas Kuhlmann, Chief Executive of the German Energy Agency, dena.

4) The green economy requires a societal transformation

WOLFRAM GÜNTHER

Saxony’s Minister for Energy, Climate Protection, Environment and Agriculture, Dresden

For a long time, companies considered climate protection primarily as a cost factor. But they have been rethinking their attitudes for a number of years, as Wolfram Günther, Saxony’s Minister for Energy, Climate Protection, Environment and Agriculture, confirmed: “The economy has taken the lead in the expansion of renewable energies and is often already much further ahead than politics.” But he reminded the audience that the path to the green economy needed to involve all of society. Alongside the consumption of resources and reducing emissions, he said this change included issues relating to living and working conditions, consumption patterns and product life cycles. Many start-ups have developed ideas on this. It is now the responsibility of politicians to promote macrosocial change by creating the right framework conditions.

5) Don’t forget the SDGs during the green transformation

Andreas Kuhlmann, Chief Executive of the German Energy Agency, warned that, if we want to achieve a sustainable world, we need to consider more aspects than just climate change on the road to greater sustainability. He recommended placing greater emphasis on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The required transformation of the economy and society needs to be assessed in terms of its economic, ecological and social aspects, he added. One goal should be to empower the poorest and most vulnerable to protect themselves against climate-related disasters. For example, in the form of measures to adapt to climate change, or through climate risk insurance covers.

SDG Climate Action — United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 calls for immediate action worldwide to combat climate change and its impacts.

6) We need to rethink our consumer behaviour

Average annual per-capita carbon footprint in Germany

Source: Konsum und Umwelt: Zentrale Handlungsfelder, Umweltbundesamt (2020)

A major obstacle on the road to greater climate protection is our own apathy. We basically know that it will not work without us making some sacrifices. “When it comes to private consumption, each person could ask themselves what they really need, and if there is a more sustainable alternative,” was one recommendation from Julian Bischof, a researcher at the Institute for Housing and Environment (IWU) in Darmstadt. The same applies to nutrition, he said. The impact of a meat-heavy diet is roughly equivalent to an additional tonne of carbon per person per year. A first step here would be to change taxation on foodstuffs, whereby animal foods would be taxed at the standard VAT rate of 19%, while plant-based products would be zero-rated. Vegetarian options would then be more attractive. In this way, we could reduce meat consumption, and by extension carbon emissions, by putting pressure on consumers’ wallets.

7) We need negative emissions

The current global climate protection goals are not adequate to limit the Earth’s warming to 1.5 degrees. We are a long way away from net-zero emissions. A further problem is that, in agriculture and in certain industrial sectors, it will be virtually impossible to eliminate all emissions by technical means. “Based on everything we know today, there is no scenario to keep global warming below two degrees without negative emissions,” explained Dirk Messner, President of the German Environment Agency (UBA). There is a wide range of possible measures to reduce carbon, as Andreas Oschlies from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel outlined. Firstly, on a physical level, by removing carbon at source, compressing it and pumping it into safe storage sites (carbon capture and storage). There is also the chemical approach, whereby carbon dissolved in the oceans binds with finely ground basalt rock. And finally biologically, through reforestation, since biomass is nothing more than carbon that has become solid. However, up to now, there has been no broad political will in this context. In fact, there is strong opposition – to CCS for example – in certain sections of the population and in the scientific community.

8) The battle for our planet will be won in the cities

Conurbations are responsible for roughly three quarters of global carbon emissions. At the same time, local authorities, as the providers of local self-government, are taking on many roles in the area of climate protection. They are pushing ahead with climate protection projects, guiding planning for climate-friendly construction areas and applying for subsidies. And, as service providers and motivators, they are in a position to influence carbon emissions both directly and indirectly, said Nadine Derber, Divisional Manager for Municipal Climate Protection at the Climate Protection and Energy Agency Baden-Württemberg. Obstacles have proved to be bureaucratic barriers and conflicts of interest, for example when deciding between greener policies and individual traffic requirements. Local authorities also have to comply with relevant regulations, such as building law requirements, and they have no power to amend these themselves. Munich city planner, Elisabeth Merk, underlined that greater control was needed at the higher legislative level.

9) We must aspire to create a circular economy

A circular economy is one where economic growth is decoupled from the consumption of resources by using valuable raw materials in a permanent cycle. Elements of the concept include not allowing waste to occur in the first place and reusing resources. Günther Langer, circular economy expert from the City of Munich’s Department for Climate and Environmental Protection, is convinced that we will not achieve climate neutrality without a circular economy. He believes that, particularly in the construction sector, which is responsible for around 38% of all carbon emissions worldwide, the reuse of construction materials would make a huge difference. However, this approach is currently 30–40% more expensive than traditional construction methods. For that reason, a government subsidy would be needed, he said, along the lines of the measures introduced to promote greater energy efficiency.

10) We need to look beyond the valley of tears

In Europe we are facing the greatest structural change in industrial history and will need to impose shortages on ourselves if we are to achieve the climate goals. Meike Jipp, Director of the Institute of Transport Research at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), recommended placing more emphasis on the benefits to be had from this sacrifice. Realising, for example, that increasing carbon prices will spur technical advances, and that we will experience more reasonable electricity prices in the future with entirely renewable energies. There are many obstacles on the road to climate neutrality, she admitted, but if we are to master the difficulties we face on our way through the valley of tears, we must also offer people some positive prospects for the future.