Germany to Do ‘Everything’ to Fight Climate Crisis, Scholz Says

(Bloomberg) -- Germany will stick to fighting climate change, despite having to rely on phased-out power plants to offset the impact of energy shortage caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

“The fact that we now have to temporarily use some power plants that have already been taken out of operation because of Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine is bitter,” he said in a video message released on Saturday. “But it’s only for a very short time.”

“Because we’re just getting started now and want to do everything we can to combat the climate crisis,” Scholz said, as he pledged that Germany will proceed with its plan for adoption of renewable sources such as wind, biomass, solar energy and produce hydrogen to reach net-zero emissions by 2045.

The energy crisis has prompted Germany to delay the retirement of a number of coal- and oil-fired power plants that together amount to about 10 gigawatts of installed generation capacity, a move researcher ICIS says will increase carbon emissions in the power sector by 20% next year and 17% in 2024.

Scholz accused Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month of using natural gas deliveries as a political weapon following his country’s invasion of Ukraine.

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