2.) Climate policy without increasing the price of CO₂ is inconceivable

At the DBU Symposium “Katowice Climate Conference: How Do We Reach Our Climate Goals?”, which was held on the day before the DBU Environmental Prize award ceremony, Ottmar Edenhofer did not mince words: “Germany is no longer a pioneer when it comes to climate policy. We are the ones who are lagging behind!” During his keynote speech and in the subsequent podium discussion, the Director and Chief Economist of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) strongly advocated for consistent and rapid action to combat climate change. This is the only way to meet the goal of limiting change to 1.5 degrees. Against the backdrop of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 24), which was held in Katowice, Poland, in December 2018, he said: “We need to rapidly lower our carbon dioxide emissions; we need to start reducing our emissions by the year 2020.” Edenhofer stated that the most “logical policy” would be to raise the price of CO₂ emissions accordingly: “A climate policy without an increase in the price of CO₂ is just as illogical as modern medicine without antibiotics. Antibiotics aren’t everything, but modern medicine without antibiotics would be inconceivable!” The price per tonne for CO₂ needs to increase to USD 100 by the year 2030. The current EU Emissions Trading price is around EUR 18. Moreover, Edenhofer pointed out that the Special Report on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPPC) Goal of 1.5°C of Global Warming also states that the highly controversial negative emission technologies – meaning technologies that can capture and remove CO₂ from the atmosphere – are indispensable.

Sabine Schlacke, participant in the podium discussion and Chairwoman of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU), discussed taxes and legal measures as additional tools that can be used to reach climate goals: “The international community and the European Union are not in a position to determine effective measures and ambitious goals. Legal actions could provide an impetus.” Furthermore, Schlacke called or a multidimensional debate on fairness that includes the parties affected by climate change measures, those affected by the impacts of climate change, and also future generations.

“Going to court should not be the solution,” said Johannes Oswald, Managing Director of Oswald Elektromotoren GmbH. The DBU Environmental Prize winner from 2017 argued for communicating with people on an emotional level: “Human beings have a number of positive qualities. We need to tap into these qualities in order to reach our climate goals.” In terms of the industry, Oswald also said with regards to the conference in Katowice: “What I really want to see is not detailed resolutions, but rather a large framework in which our economy is given as much freedom to manoeuvre as possible. This framework can be a CO₂ price.”

Holger Lösch, Deputy Managing Director of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), also stressed that, “we at the BDI have brought up the topic of increasing the CO₂ price time and again because businesses prefer an industry solution rather than regulatory policies or regulatory laws.” Lösch felt that one of the major issues would be conditions for foreign competitors: “Are they getting an advantage while we’ve got one hand tied behind our backs? That is why we prefer to work together with our biggest partners, markets and competitors to determine CO₂ prices.”

Hubert Weiger, President of the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), and also a 2017 winner of the DBU Environmental Prize, introduced the “pressure from public protests” to the discussion as another possible impetus for change. “Nothing happens without this pressure. The more people who visibly take to the streets to demonstrate, the more the media reports on it, the more politicians are encouraged to actually take action.” According to Weiger, it is necessary to create a concept that goes beyond election cycles and, most importantly, gives young people hope.

In a final interview with moderator Gregor Steinbrenner from 3sat nano, DBU fellow Ronja Ritthaler-Andree discussed her doctoral thesis “Climate Justice and International Climate Policy: The Bargaining Power of the US, China and India”. Climate justice has been discussed by all three countries, but each one has come to a very different conclusion. Ritthaler-Andree says she wants to find a link between the three that will help to make climate negotiations more successful in the future.

You can find more information on the symposium here and also watch the video on the DBU YouTube channel.