Agreement with Industry on CO2 Emissions Cuts

On 9 November 2000, German industry and the federal government concluded a second update of its voluntary commitment for climate protection (the original agreement was reached in 1995; the first update was made in 1996). Under the second update, CO2 emissions are to be lowered by 28% by 2005 and the greenhouse gases named in the Kyoto Protocol are to be lowered by 35% (each relative to 1990 levels) by 2012. In return, the government will postpone regulatory measures to reach the reduction goals and take the contribution of industry into account in the eco-tax. By another supplement to this agreement, CO2 emissions are to be lowered by a further 45 million tonnes in 2010. A special focus is the greater use of cogeneration, which will allow 23 million tonnes of CO2 emissions to be avoided in 2010. To support this measure, the German government introduced new legislation for sustaining, modernising, and expanding cogeneration. The programme on VAs is further supplemented by low interest loans given to enterprises wanting to make investments in energy savings. Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) and Deutsche Ausgleichsbank (DtA) run pollution control programmes to provide funding to these enterprises. In particular, this organisation provides low-interest loans to medium-sized private businesses for cogeneration projects.