CDU on climate and energy

The CDU commits to the Paris climate goals and wants North Rhine-Westphalia to be climate neutral by 2045 at the latest. Climate action is to be reconciled with industry, jobs and social security, and should remain affordable for people.

The CDU wants to protect the climate. The state should be climate neutral by 2045. That means it adds no more harmful gases. Industry and its jobs should stay. Climate action should stay affordable for people.

The platform names climate neutrality by 2045 at the latest as its goal and backs the Paris Agreement. Its guiding principles are openness to all technologies and public acceptance. The CDU calls climate action a task spanning generations and wants to turn it into a "reconciliation project." It also announces a new societal pact for jobs and the environment. North Rhine-Westphalia is to remain an industrial and energy state.

The CDU calls on the federal government for an energy price brake so that energy stays affordable for households and businesses. Several energy taxes are to fall, and the housing benefit and commuter allowance are to rise.

Energy has become expensive. The CDU wants the federal government to slow the prices. Taxes on heating, electricity and fuel should go down. The housing benefit should rise for good. Commuters should be able to deduct more from their taxes.

The CDU demands a lower value-added tax on heating costs as well as cuts to the electricity tax and the energy tax, formerly the mineral oil tax. The Wohngeld (housing benefit) is to be permanently higher. The commuter allowance is to rise starting from the first kilometer. The platform argues that foreign-policy decisions it considers right must not burden people at home and that energy costs must not become a new social issue.

The CDU wants to exit coal by 2030, provided the federal government ensures secure supply and stable prices. Gas is to serve as a bridging technology, and the state is to become independent of Russian energy imports quickly.

The CDU wants to stop burning coal by 2030. For that, the federal government must make sure there is enough energy. Prices must stay stable too. For a transition period, the CDU wants to use gas. The state should no longer need energy from Russia.

The legal end date for coal nationwide is 2038; the CDU aims for 2030 and names climate neutrality by 2045 at the latest as its goal. The state's energy supply strategy is being revised because of the geopolitical situation, including more imports of liquefied natural gas. New gas power plants are to be built so that they can later run on hydrogen. Storage and buffer capacity in the gas grids is to be tied more closely into the energy system. The CDU wants to speed up the expansion and conversion of energy grids.

The CDU wants to speed up the expansion of wind energy and photovoltaics. To that end, residents are to share financially, protected interests are to be rebalanced, and owners of small solar systems are to be relieved of taxes and paperwork.

The CDU wants more wind turbines and solar panels. Building them should go faster. People living nearby should be able to earn money from wind turbines. Owners of small solar systems should pay no taxes on what they earn.

Old turbines are to be replaced with the most powerful new ones (repowering) so that land is used well. The CDU wants to examine changing state planning law and to redefine the balance among species, landscape, emissions and water protection. Models for residents' financial participation are to be supported. Up to 30 kilowatts of capacity, the federal government should exempt solar systems from all taxes on their yields; a one-stop state agency is to help builders. The CDU wants to support large rooftop systems as well as agri-, biodiversity and floating photovoltaics.

The CDU wants to make North Rhine-Westphalia the leading hydrogen state and reach at least three gigawatts of electrolysis capacity by 2030. Industry is to get help with the switch, and research on capturing CO2 is to keep receiving support.

The CDU wants to make much more hydrogen in the state. Hydrogen can replace coal, oil and gas. Old gas pipelines should carry hydrogen. Factories should get help with the switch. The CDU also wants to support technology that captures CO2.

For a transition period, the CDU considers blue and turquoise hydrogen necessary alongside green hydrogen. Surplus renewable electricity from the regions is to go into hydrogen production. By 2030, at least 240 kilometers of gas pipelines no longer in use are to be converted. Climate protection contracts (Carbon Contracts for Difference) are to be tailored to midsize industrial firms and open to all of industry. Under the Carbon Management Strategie NRW, the CDU wants to step up funding for research on capturing, using and storing CO2.

The CDU wants the state to be better prepared for severe weather and to secure critical infrastructure against extreme conditions. A new state water center (Landeszentrum Wasser) is to develop strategies for drought as well as for floods and heavy rain, and take charge of warnings about water hazards.

The CDU wants the state to be better prepared for storms. Important facilities should keep working in extreme weather. The CDU wants to set up a state water center. It should deal with drought and floods. It should also warn people about dangers.

The program calls groundwater the most important source of drinking water and says this requires well-designed water management with new methods. Experts from science and the water sector are to work together in the state water center. They are to draw up plans for long periods of drought and scarcity as well as for flood protection and heavy rainfall. The center is also to become the central body within the state government for hydrological information and warnings.