German coalition in trouble over plan to ban gas boilers

Relations between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s fragile coalition government hit a new low on Tuesday after the Liberals put on hold one of the Greens’ pet projects – a bill to ban gas boilers in new homes as of next year – Promotion of allegations of breach of trust and double dealing.

A visibly furious Robert Habeck, the Green vice-chancellor and economy minister, accused the Liberals of “breaking their word”, saying the ruling party would push the draft law on boilers through parliament before the summer break at the end of March. agreed to proceed.

This will no longer be possible after the Liberal Free Democrats (FDP) suspended parliamentary discussion of the bill in its first reading. “I have seen that the FDP is not honoring the promises it has made,” he said.

The row between the FDP and the Greens threatened to hinder Scholz’s pursuit of the legislative agenda, as the Greens threatened retaliation by blocking FDP-sponsored bills.

Friedrich Merz, leader of the opposition Christian Democrats, spoke of a “lack of leadership and chaos in the (Social Democrat)-led government”.

Germany has long been concerned about the huge amount of CO₂ emitted from its buildings. The sector discharged the equivalent of 112 million tonnes of CO₂ last year, a figure that must fall to 67 million tonnes by 2030 if the country is to have any hope of meeting its climate targets.

About 80 percent of the heat for buildings is derived from the burning of fossil fuels, and experts agree that emissions will drop significantly only after the country switches to renewable energy sources such as heat pumps. The switch is seen as a cornerstone of Germany’s plan to be carbon neutral by 2045.

Under a heating bill sponsored by Habré’s economy ministry and passed by cabinet in April, every newly installed heating system must rely up to 65 percent on renewable energy from 2024. This is effectively the equivalent of banning new gas boilers.

The Greens see the bill as a key part of their climate agenda. But the FDP, led by Finance Minister Christian Lindner, declined to put it on the Bundestag agenda this week, saying it needed more work.

Britta Hasselmann, head of the Greens’ parliamentary group, said she has always seen the FDP as an “honest broker”. “This clearly no longer applies to Christian Lindner. . . incredulity just demands belief,” she said.

But the FDP was defiant. Christian Dürr, head of its parliamentary group, said the bill was “clearly not ready – the Greens and Social Democrats are saying the same thing, as are we”.

“Many people are worried, with justification,” he told public broadcaster ARD. “At the end of the day we need a law where the heating system matches the house and not the other way around, and that’s not guaranteed yet.”