Germany’s Friedrich Merz addressed a major climate policy gathering on Wednesday by stressing the need to unshackle industry from harmful regulations, including by reworking the EU’s carbon trading scheme.<\/p>\n
“Climate protection must not endanger the industrial base in Germany and in our countries,” the German chancellor told the Petersburg Climate Dialogue in Berlin.<\/p>\n
“A transformation that leads to deindustrialisation will not find acceptance among the people. And it will eventually hamper innovation,” Merz added.<\/p>\n
Merz, a conservative, has prioritised boosting Germany’s stagnant economy and protecting the country’s large industrial base since taking office last year.<\/p>\n
Merz has repeatedly stressed that Germany will stick to its climate targets — including achieving carbon neutrality by 2045 — though his government has come under fire from environmental groups for dialing back green energy policies.<\/p>\n
The annual Petersburg Climate Dialogue is aimed at spurring international climate policy negotiations ahead of the annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP). COP31 will be held in November in Turkey.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Merz contended that for climate policy “real progress depends on a strong partnership with industry — it is there where the innovations and new technologies shaping our future are created”.<\/p>\n
Merz and several other EU leaders have demanded an overhaul to Europe’s flagship ETS carbon market scheme that would reduce costs for industry.<\/p>\n
An update to the ETS rules “with a clear focus on maintaining competitiveness” is needed to make the scheme “fit for the future”, Merz said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Established in 2005 and intended to address climate change, the ETS system caps greenhouse-gas emissions but creates a market for companies to trade allowances — a system that requires heavy polluters to buy permits.<\/p>\n
Critics, including many German industrial leaders, argue that the system drives up energy costs and makes it harder for European companies to compete on global markets.<\/p>\n
Countries still heavily reliant on fossil fuels, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, have long been leading this opposition.<\/p>\n
In February, Germany, France and Italy called for an ETS reform, arguing that it would boost the EU’s industrial competitiveness.<\/p>\n
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni even called for its suspension in early March, citing the shock to energy prices from the US-Israeli war on Iran.<\/p>\n
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