German industries warn against relocation of energy production

BERLIN, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The president of the Federation of German Industries Dieter Kempf warned against solo efforts by Germany in energy and climate policy, he told German Press Agency (dpa) on Monday.

Isolated national action would be counterproductive because "production would be relocated to foreign countries and the price of electricity would continue to rise," Kempf said here, "The principles of the energy and climate policy should not include weakening, but rather strengthening of industrial competitiveness."

Kempf called for more realism and an objective discussion concerning energy and climate policy. "We have to look at each sector, industry, energy, transport, buildings, individually and define political instruments in each case," he said.

Kempf said the German climate protection target for 2020, which includes a reduction of CO2 emissions by 40 percent compared to 1990, will be difficult to achieve.

"Germany will have exited nuclear power by 2022, which is earlier than originally planned," he added. The industry stands by the Paris Climate Change Agreement although the set goals originally applied to a longer period.

Kempf announced a large climate study would be published on behalf of the BDI on Jan. 18. The aim is to present a comprehensive factual basis on the technical and economic potential of CO2 reduction. Enditem