Joachim Weimann is a professor of economics in Magdeburg and advises the think tank R21 on climate and energy issues. He considers emissions trading systems – i.e. the pricing of CO2 emissions as part of a cap-and-trade system – to be the decisive lever in climate policy. He sees strengths above all in the market-based approach of the instrument, and strictly rejects a planned economy approach. He is therefore calling for Germany to take a radical step: to end all climate policy laws and regulations. The European Emissions Trading System (ETS) is completely sufficient, but it should be extended to as many sectors of the economy as possible. A successful European climate policy could then be extended globally. He believes that Germany going it alone – to be climate-neutral five years earlier than the EU, namely in 2045 and not just 2050 – is counterproductive and grossly wrong. Weimann also criticises the fact that large parts of German politics and NGOs are working within the framework of a national climate policy. He considers the current German energy transition to be unaffordable – and relies on the “power of the factual” to correct it.
