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Angela Merkel humiliation: Germany shamed over ‘reaching EU emission target’ claims
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In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, Ms Seibt – who has been dubbed the anti-Greta Thunberg of climate change, reacted to the the German government and its admission that it would have missed its climate change targets if the “economic havoc wrought by COVID-19 had not caused a large drop in greenhouse gas emissions”. The EU has set member states numerous targets as part of its plan to eradicate CO2 emissions, which aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to zero by 2050. Germany, the EU’s biggest carbon emitting nation, had planned to cut its emissions to 40 percent, which would have seen its levels drop to the smallest since 1990.
But in a damning blow, the country’s environment minister Svenja Schulze said that with its current policy efforts, it would have only reached 37.5 percent emissions cut.
She added: “We have learned the right lessons from past failures.
“Every year we will check whether we are on the path we have agreed, and take further action if necessary.”
Ms Seibt claimed it was “impossible” for a nation such as Germany to reach such high targets from the EU.
She also condemned the likes of Mrs Merkel, the German Chancellor, and others who will celebrate a lowering of greenhouse gases as a result of nationwide lockdowns across the world.
Due to the lockdowns during the outbreak, many nations have demanded citizens no longer go out “unless necessary” as they attempted to curb the spread of COVID-19.
This has led to improvements with the planet’s environment but, at the same time, an estimated 835,000 people have perished at the hands of the coronavirus.
Ms Seibt said: “They should never draw conclusions from the coronavirus about climate change because if this pandemic is really that severe, which they claim it is, then you can’t at the same time say ‘there are billions of people affected by this virus, thousands dying, but we’re making progress with climate change’.
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“I think that’s disgusting. How can you do that?”
The Green Deal – the name of the EU’s proposal – was created in a bid to curb panic and is the basis of a new growth strategy for those in the bloc.
The law was unveiled by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen makes it essential that the EU balances emissions and the removal of greenhouse gases.
Ms von der Leyen stated ahead of the green deal that the historic pact would be Europe’s “man on the Moon moment”, and would see Europe become the world’s first climate-neutral continent.
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Ms Seibt said: “I think it’s impossible to hit those targets because we have shut down all of our nuclear energy sources in 2010 because there was a lot of fear mongering about that.
“The only way you could ever reach those targets was if you reduce all fossil fuel and C02 emissions and that means only relying on alternative energy sources, such as solar and wind power, which in Germany it doesn’t work due to the weather, and we don’t have access to the sea.
“It doesn’t make sense.
“It’s impossible to just rely on those unsustainable energy sources. I don’t even like the term alternative energy sources, because this is not an alternative.
“This is just fun and games, a scientific experiment you would carry out with a 10-year-old. It’s not something that will sustain a population and keep them alive without energy.”
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