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From Marrakech to Brandenburg: Schellnhuber at the state of Brandenburg’s press conference
11/21/2016 – After the ratification of the Paris Agreement, the climate conference in Marrakech confirmed once more that energy production based on the use of coal has no future, if international climate targets are to be met. This was not only relevant for the United Nations, but also for Europe, Germany or the Federal State of Brandenburg. Business as usual with lignite would not only harm the world climate, but also the economic development of regions like the German Lausitz. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber , Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, recently spoke about these topics at the state of Brandenburg’s press conference. Together with Marc Lawrence of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), he was invited by the journalists to comment on the first year of the Paris Agreement, on German climate policy and the relevance for the Federal State of Brandenburg. Schellnhuber promoted the idea of developing a phase-out plan for coal use which would shape the transformation towards clean energy technologies with the aim of creating sustainable jobs in lignite-minig areas such as the Lausitz and the Rhineland.
“Not only in responsibility for climate mitigation but also in responsibility for a truly sustainable economic development”, an exit from coal use by 2030 was wise, Schellnhuber said. It was of great importance to actively shape the transformation and to create perspectives for people in the affected mining areas. Business as usual would maintain jobs only for a few years, after which investors might withdraw. A “path forward into the past” would gain nothing for the region, argued Schellnhuber. In contrast, growth could be expected in fields like energy storage. The Federal State of Brandenburg already being very successful in areas like the expansion of wind energy, a phase of actively shaping coal policy should follow.
