The German cabinet approved the second phase of a major energy-saving and climate-protection package Wednesday, aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020, according to dpa. Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel billed the measures, which have yet to be approved by both houses of parliament, as the most significant climate protection programme in the world. The opposition Greens Party described the package as "broken remnant" of the original intentions, while environmental organization Greenpeace said it had been heavily watered down and would achieve a cut in carbon dioxide emissions of only 30 per cent. Chancellor Angela Merkel saw the new measures as "very important progress for climate protection," her spokesman said. Gabriel said emissions had been cut by 20 per cent by last year on the basis of 1990 levels, putting the country well on the way to achieving its commitments under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The new measures would achieve reductions of 35 per cent, he told national public television, acknowledging that more had to be done to achieve the remaining 5 per cent. "We have already achieved a lot in climate protection. The Kyoto goal has almost been reached," Gabriel said. Among the measures agreed are higher standards in insulation and energy conservation for buildings, extending the electricity grid to carry electricity generated by offshore wind power and increasing the motorway tolls paid by long-distance hauliers. The cabinet has, however, postponed plans to change the basis of vehicle tax from engine capacity to exhaust emissions with the aim of encouraging fuel economy. Economics Minister Michael Glos said the government had now approved all the measures decided on in its integrated climate and energy package agreed last year. The cabinet passed the first phase in December, agreeing measures on renewable energy sources, linking power generation to heating buildings and calling for more use of biofuels. Glos, a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister-party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), said that after climate protection, the focus was now on world energy prices. "We have to limit our dependency on oil and gas," he said, calling for a broad range of energy sources, increased efficiency in energy use and the expansion of renewable energy resources. He raised the possibility of extending the operating lives of Germany's nuclear power plants. The Social Democrats (SPD), the junior partner in Merkel's coalition, are insisting on sticking to a law passed under the previous chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, that Germany must phase out the use of nuclear power by 2021. Greens parliamentary spokesman Baerbel Hoehn said the majority of the originally planned 30 measures had been watered down or left out entirely. "It fails in three places: no effective measures for lower electricity and heat consumption, no measures for fuel-efficient cars and no limits on the mass construction of new coal-fired power stations," she said. Greenpeace expert Andree Boehling said the organization had made calculations on the basis of the government measures. "The result is shocking," he said. "By the time the next floods strike, the government will have to explain why it is not protecting people adequately against the effects of climate change," Boehling said. Germany was hit by severe floods along the River Elbe around Dresden in 2002 and on the Oder River along the Polish border in 1997.
