PRESS RELEASE 39/2021 IG Metall Calls for Faster Progress on the Energy Transition

Frankfurt am Main – From IG Metall’s perspective, a new federal government formed after the September 26 election must very quickly and very specifically implement measures to accelerate the energy transition. “Everyone is talking about goals, even though there isn’t much disagreement on them. But what we need are the measures—that is, what specifically needs to happen and on what timeline—to achieve these goals,” says Wolfgang Lemb, executive board member, at an IG Metall industry conference on wind energy.

Wolfgang Lemb, who in his role at IG Metall is responsible, among other things, for industrial, energy, and structural policy, warns that if progress continues at the pace of the past ten years, the energy transition will fail. Workers expect clear and reliable framework conditions so that their companies can invest in climate-neutral technologies of the future and thus secure jobs. The coming legislative period will be crucial for this.

Industrially, Germany risks falling behind in international competition if investment projects aimed at greater climate protection are not accelerated. “If we want to meet the future electricity demand of approximately 700 TWh from renewables, we need to increase the installed capacity of renewables to at least 300 GW, of which approximately 150 GW will come from photovoltaics, 100 GW from onshore wind, and 50 GW from offshore wind,” Lemb emphasized. However, this will only be possible if planning laws are simplified and planning procedures are significantly expedited.

The problem of the grid infrastructure “bottleneck” must be eliminated. “If we want to remain an industrialized nation, this must finally be resolved now,” said Lemb.

If the interim targets for 2030 (a 65 percent reduction in GHG emissions) and 2040 (an 88 percent reduction) are to be achievable, there must also be a significant increase in the necessary public investment. This, too, will require a clear commitment from the next federal government during the upcoming legislative term. “We estimate a need for approximately 500 billion euros over the next 10 years,” said Lemb.

Further information and press photos of Wolfgang Lemb