If Bavaria is a territory traditionally acquired from the conservative camp of Angela Merkel, the Greens of this Land are far from admitting to being experienced in this electoral campaign in view of the legislative elections of September 26. We met two of their young representatives, Katharina Sparrer and David Schiepek, who believe the time is right for a change as the Chancellor prepares to step down after 16 years in office. “We have just lived 16 years of inaction on climate protection and social justice and on these subjects, we obviously need to make progress,” assures Katharina Sparrer, member of theAlliance 90 / The Greens.
Climate elections
During this campaign, the two environmentalists met voters for some, committed to their cause, for others, angry with their training which is sometimes seen as the party of prohibitions. “Questions such as: who will pay for the green transition and what will be prohibited come up often. We have to explain:” No, you can still use your diesel car and here in the countryside you can still drive with to go from point A to point B! “ she explains before adding: “In reality, the emphasis is on public transport and its development, a functioning rail network and good cycle paths.”
For David Schiepek, these elections are climate elections: they provide an opportunity to really change things and allow Germany to achieve its climate goals. “Personally, I am afraid of living in 20, 30 or 40 years in an environment where, due to ecological crises, climate change, I no longer have any freedoms, I can no longer live in an intact and healthy ecosystem, “ confides the young local elected official. “So a green, forward-looking policy protects our freedoms rather than threatening them,” he adds.
Legal actions
In terms of climate protection, every day counts according to David Schiepek who with other activists and the NGO German environmental aid, decided to sue the Land of Bavaria. “As the action against the federal climate law has been successful, I thought to myself that it was legally possible to demand that climate protection become a guaranteed right for our generation,” he specifies.
In their complaintcampaigners argue that Bavaria’s current climate law is insufficiently specific and therefore ineffective. “In the law, we must specify the exact deadline we want to achieve in a given sector such as transport and energy, in a quantified drop in CO2 emissions compared to the 1990 level,” assures the young man. “And that is only when we have defined these reduction prospects in the law,” he continues, “that business and society can define what measures to take and when to put them in place.”
For these young activists, this election does not relate to the future German political landscape, but rather to the future of their generation.
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