Germany: The ifo Institute criticises the Coal Commission
The ifo Institute has criticised the Coal Commission in Germany. "According to calculations by the ifo Institute, the exit from coal is at least partially offset by imports of nuclear and coal-fired power from Poland and the Czech Republic," says ifo researcher Karen Pittel. "The compensation for power plant operators and the planned reduction in electricity prices will also increase the costs of phasing out coal. The opportunity was missed to combine the phase-out of coal with a fundamental reform of energy and climate policy. There is still no long-term plan for implementing the German and international climate targets," added Pittel, head of the ifo Centre for Energy, Climate and Resources. The shutdown of coal-fired power plants according to a timetable would cause additional costs for the energy system transformation, which, according to current estimates, would require well over 1,000 billion euros in additional investments by 2050 anyway.
The ifo researcher welcomes the Commission's recommendation to remove certificates from the market in order to ensure a reduction in CO2 emissions also at European level. However, this demand should have been linked inevitably to the phasing out of coal. "Otherwise there is a danger that German emissions will fall, but emissions in the rest of Europe will rise accordingly. This would not benefit global climate protection at all," continues Pittel. A decision to phase out coal would be too short-sighted to achieve Germany's climate targets. "A comprehensive new start in energy policy is called for, but the Commission remains at a much too general level. In this way, the final report contributes to consolidating the existing stereotyped thinking. Only a short paragraph in the more than 300-page report is devoted to an urgently needed CO2 pricing also outside the European emissions trading system. The Commission had thus only fulfilled a small part of its mandate. A mixture of instruments which brings together economic development, structural change, social compatibility, social cohesion and climate protection had not been developed, which was required by the Commission's establishment decision.
