Berlin Climate Referendum Falls Short
Berliners voted in a referendum on a proposal to make the German capital climate neutral 15 years earlier than planned, however not enough voted 'yes' in order for it to pass.
Berliners voted in a referendum on a proposal to make the German capital climate neutral 15 years earlier than planned, however not enough voted 'yes' in order for it to pass.Not enough voters in Berlin supported a push to make the German capital carbon neutral by 2030, the preliminary outcome of a referendum held on Sunday showed.
It emerged during vote counting that the number of minimum yes votes required for the target to be adopted could not be met, according to the state election administration.
Also Read | Outcome of Berlin Climate Referendum on a Knife-edge.
At least 25% of eligible votes cast needed to be yes, working out to around 608,000 votes that were needed.
Had it been approved the proposal would have set the city's government a legally binding target to achieve climate neutrality in seven years.
Berlin, like Germany as a whole, currently aims for a 95% reduction in net carbon dioxide emissions by 2045, compared with 1990 levels.
Climate activists from the group called Klimaneustart Berlin (Climate Reset Berlin), who prompted the vote, said the target is too far in the future to prevent global warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius.
At least 80% of Berlin's energy, however, comes from fossil fuel sources.
Few lawmakers in Berlin's state parliament, the Senate, believed seven years is enough to make the transition to renewable energy and were concerned about the short-term costs the legally binding deadline would have incurred.
This is a developing news story, more to follow...
lo/kb (AP, dpa, Reuters)
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(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2023 11:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).