New Green state premier says Baden-Württemberg stays firm on 2040 climate neutrality target

Baden-Württemberg’s new state premier has affirmed the southern German state’s target to become climate neutral by 2040, five years ahead of the national target. In his inaugural speech as premier, Green Party politician Cem Özdemir said investments in climate action are also investments in economic strength, the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported.Making Germany more independent of fossil fuel imports is a “patriotic act”, Özdemir said. Green technology will therefore be one of the priorities of his government. The state premier also promised a more efficient administration and a new law to reduce bureaucratic requirements for companies by the end of 2027. Baden-Württemberg's neighbour state Bavaria recently abandoned its 2040 climate neutrality target and now aims to reach it five years later, arguing that the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Germany’s nuclear phase-out have made the goal unworkable.Özdemir emerged as the surprise winner of state elections in the prosperous industrial state in March and has since formed a coalition government with the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU). The Greens have governed Baden-Württemberg since 2011, and it remains the only German state with a Green state premier. The two parties said in their coalition agreement that they aim to allow the underground storage of climate-damaging carbon dioxide (CO2), which could make Baden-Württemberg the first German state to do so.Özdemir, who served as federal agriculture minister in the previous government, said the state that is home to Mercedes, Bosch, Porsche and many other engineering brands “must remain a leading car production location.” The crisis in Germany’s car industry, which is grappling with weak sales and the shift away from combustion engines to electric vehicles, has fuelled fears in Baden-Württemberg of becoming a “second Detroit”, a reference to the US city’s decline following the loss of its dominant position in the global automotive industry.

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