German economy ministry pushes ahead with climate protection law

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s economy ministry has sent a draft law on climate protection to other ministries for approval after months of wrangling following a long-awaited agreement on a bill to phase out oil and gas heating systems earlier this week.

Europe’s biggest economy and its industrial powerhouse is bringing in a range of measures to become climate neutral by 2045. It is expanding the renewable sector and launching an affordable national train ticket and a new road toll for trucks.

“The new climate protection programme bundles the coalition’s efforts to achieve national and European climate protection goals,” said Economy Minister Robert Habeck in a statement on Wednesday.

“(With these plans) the goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2030 is within reach,” he added.

Under the draft law, emission developments will be monitored over several years, not just compared to the previous year, to reduce one-off effects and increase transparency, said the ministry.

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers and Miranda Murray; Editing by Riham Alkousaa)