DThe federal government wants to support the industry in becoming climate neutral with a funding program worth billions. On Tuesday, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) launched the first call for tenders for the so-called climate protection agreements. With these, the federal government wants to subsidize companies the additional costs for climate-friendly production compared to traditional fossil fuel production over a period of 15 years. The program is aimed primarily at energy-intensive companies – for example in the glass, paper or cement industries.
“Companies can calculate with a fixed green energy price for over 15 years,” said Habeck. Germany is the first country in the world to introduce climate protection agreements. There is interest from other countries in following suit, he said, naming Canada and South Korea. He wants to ensure that companies “don’t suck up fossil fuels until they can’t anymore.”
The program is financed from the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF). There are 23 billion euros in commitment appropriations planned for the decarbonization of industry this year. The Ministry of Economic Affairs wants to award 4 billion euros in the first round of tenders that is now starting, and 19 billion euros in a second round in the fall. Two more rounds of tenders are to follow next year, the financial volume of which Habeck left open. All in all, the traffic light coalition will spend “a mid-double-digit billion amount” on climate protection agreements in this legislative period. This is expected to produce 350 million tons of CO2 be saved by 2045. This corresponds to more than a third of the sector target for industry for 2030.
What Greenpeace demands
If climate-friendly production becomes cheaper than that with fossil fuels during the contract period, the companies should pay money back to the state for three years before they can terminate the contract. At the press conference, Habeck was confident that this will actually happen within the term of the contracts. However, it is true that the hedging contracts, which are modeled on contracts from the private sector, pose a financial risk for the state – and therefore for taxpayers. “If the market price is exorbitantly higher, it is a risk for the public sector,” said Habeck.
There was praise for the federal government from business associations on Tuesday. “Extensive government support is necessary if the politically desired transformation towards climate neutrality is to succeed in a short time,” said Siegfried Russwurm, President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI). However, the fact that the exact amount for the climate protection agreements is still the subject of future budget negotiations causes uncertainty.
Wolfgang Große Entrup, managing director of the Chemical Industry Association (VCI), called the climate protection agreements “a positive signal”. The environmental protection organization Greenpeace demanded that only companies that produce CO2 should be supported2 not allowed to arise in the first place. There should be no funding for production with blue instead of green hydrogen or natural gas. There is potential for conflict, especially when it comes to CCS: Habeck wants the technology with which CO2 is allowed to be separated and pressed, but environmentalists are once morest it.
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