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The Foundation
Principle 1: Convening a ‘Round Table for a National Consensus on Coal’ Principle 2: Incremental, legally binding phase-out of coal power by 2040
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The Coal Phase-Out in Germany’s Power Plant Fleet
Principle 3: No new construction of coal-fired power plants Principle 4: Determine a cost-efficient decommissioning plan for existing coal power plants based on remaining plant lifespans, including flexibility options in lignite mining regions Principle 5: No additional national climate policy regulations for coal-fired power plants beyond the phase-out plan
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The Coal Phase-Out in Lignite Mining Regions
Principle 6: No additional lignite mines and no further relocation processes of affected communities Principle 7: The follow-up costs of lignite mining should be financed with a special levy on lignite Principle 8: Creation of ‘Structural Change Fund’ to ensure a sound financial basis for structural change in affected regions
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Economic and Social Aspects of the Coal Phase-Out
Principle 9: Ensuring security of supply over the entire transformation period Principle 10: Strengthening EU Emissions Trading and the prompt retirement of CO? certificates set free by the coal phase-out Principle 11: Ensuring the economic competitiveness of energy-intensive companies and the Germany economy as a whole during the transformation process
This content is also available in: German
Eleven principles for a consensus on coal (short version)
Concept for a stepwise decarbonisation of the German power sector
Preface
Since the historical climate agreement in Paris, the following is now abundantly clear: Decarbonisation is the key issue that will define the debate over the future of the world’s energy systems. While Germany has traditionally had a large coal industry, it is also a pioneer in the adoption of renewable energy – accordingly, we can no longer avoid debate on the future of coal. The greenhouse reduction targets that have been set for 2030, 2040 and 2050 inevitably mean that coal must be phased out.
Due to the long time frames of investment decisions in the energy sector, industry actors need legal certainty moving forward. Providing such certainty is possible, as Germany was recently able to resolve two major points of dispute in its energy policy – namely, the decision to phase out nuclear power, and the decision to stop mining hard coal. The time is ripe for reaching a consensus on the future of coal, rather than allow a fundamental conflict in energy policy to become entrenched for decades.
A large number of experts share the view that the time for action is now – not only commentators (among others Süddeutsche Zeitung, Rheinische Post, Handelsblatt, Spiegel), but also by the German Advisory Council on the Environment and The German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), which has called for a structured dialog process on the future role of coal.
Key findings
Bibliographical data
Downloads
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Main Report
pdf 2 MB
Eleven Principles for a Consensus on Coal
Concept for a stepwise decarbonisation of the German power sector
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Translation
pdf 2 MB
煤炭共识：十一大原则
Chinese translation
Our experts
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Barbara Praetorius
Professor of Economics (Main Focus on Environmental Economics) / Deputy Director (until March 2017)
