CO2 price brought billions
Consumer advocates are demanding 139 euros in climate money for everyone
December 21, 2023, 1:14 p.m
According to the traffic light coalition, climate money should ensure social balance in CO2 pricing. It’s just not paid out yet. The federal government still sees citizens as being indirectly relieved. Consumer advocates object and are retroactively demanding a three-digit sum for every German citizen.
In the discussion about climate money, consumer advocates already see the state as having a lot of trouble with its citizens. In the past three years, the state has earned an additional 11.4 billion euros from CO2 pricing, reported the ARD capital studio, citing calculations by the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (VZBV). Since the majority of the costs of the CO2 price already fall on consumers, they should also get money back – namely 139 euros per person, the association demanded.
The government’s total revenue from the CO2 price was more than twice as high as the direct relief. “I would like to see that on consumers’ accounts,” VZBV energy expert Thomas Engelke told ARD. For a family of four that would be 556 euros.
CO2 pricing was introduced in January 2021 by the then grand coalition of the Union and the SPD and aims to make the consumption of fossil fuels less attractive in the fight against climate change and to encourage a switch to more climate-friendly alternatives. This results in higher costs for consumers, for example for petrol and diesel.
E-car funding instead of climate money
However, it was only the “traffic light” coalition made up of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP that proposed climate money to compensate for this in its coalition agreement. To date, however, there is no date for the introduction. In view of the increasing burdens on citizens due to the agreement on CO2 pricing in the federal government’s budget compromise, calls for climate money are now getting louder again.
With a view to the VZBV’s calculations, the Federal Ministry of Economics pointed out, according to the ARD capital studio, that the additional income from the CO2 price flowed into the climate and transformation fund and thus also ended up with the citizens: for example through funding programs for building renovation and the Heating replacement, energy advice or e-car funding.
This meant that consumers were specifically supported. In addition, the CO2 price was not increased this year as planned in order to relieve the burden on people.