DPA Correspondent l Friday, March 24, 2023
BERLIN – Berlin will not be climate neutral by 2030, Mayor Franziska Giffey said on Friday two days ahead of a plebiscite on more stringent emission targets.
“We see it as important that the issue is taken forward, but it will not be possible for Berlin to be climate neutral by 2030. People have to be told this clearly; everything else is nonsense,” Giffey said.
The target of 2030 was unrealistic, with respect to both buildings and transport, she said.
The city-state’s energy transition law provides for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030 from the baseline of 1990 and to zero by 2045.
The group Klimaneustart (climate reset), initiators of Sunday’s referendum, is demanding a cut of 70% by 2025 and at least 95% by 2030.
Giffey, who leads the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the city-state of Berlin, is currently in coalition talks with the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which made strong gains in the February 12 elections to emerge as the largest party.
The outgoing Berlin government is a three-way coalition between the SPD, the Greens and the hard-left Linke.
