The Left demands a 90 percent reduction in climate targets by 2035

The Left is now demanding that the government significantly increase the ambitions in the new climate target for 2035. While Climate Minister Lars Aagaard (M) has announced a negotiating space between 82 and 85 percent, four parties want a target of 90 percent CO2 reduction in 2035.

This is what the party leaders from the Unity Party, the Socialist Party, the Alternative and the Radical Party say in unison - and they believe that they carry some weight.

- I assume that the Climate Minister and the rest of the government are aware that something like a climate target should not be done with a very narrow majority. It requires broad shoulders, says Martin Lidegaard, political leader of the Radical Party.

According to the Climate Act, the government and the Folketing must adopt a new climate target for 2035 before the end of this year. The new climate target should be an extension of the established target for 2030, which is 70 percent.

At the end of November, Lars Aagaard presented the government's proposal after lengthy internal discussions. The proposal is 82 percent with the possibility of being negotiated up to 85 percent, he explained.

But that is not ambitious enough at all, the four parties believe. Projections show that the current climate policy will mean a reduction of 80 percent in 2035, and the government's bid is therefore just a small upward adjustment, the criticism is.

- Climate change is not going away. On the contrary, they are roaring out of there, says Pelle Dragsted.

Must come up with initiatives and financing themselves

Lars Aagaard has set a requirement for parties that want to increase the percentage that they themselves must come up with credible initiatives and associated financing. The four parties do not have a comprehensive plan for this, but individual independent proposals.

In SF, for example, the extra reductions will be found by raising the tax on agricultural emissions.

- I believe that is one of the buttons that must be turned in relation to being ambitious. It is not that expensive for the state, but it means that agriculture must deliver more reductions, says Pia Olsen Dyhr, chairwoman of SF.

Here, however, Lars Aagaard has warned that the green tripartite is sufficient, and that he will not open up the agricultural sector's climate commitments. However, this does not make the parties give up in advance, says Franciska Rosenkilde, leader of Alternativet.

- You cannot give up early in politics, because then we will not get any changes. So of course I am fighting fiercely for agriculture to deliver to a much greater extent, she says.

The Unity List proposes to regulate itself to a stop for petrol and diesel cars in 2035, while the Radical Party wants the industry to switch to renewable energy even faster.

Regardless of which initiative is to be discussed, the parties agree that Lars Aagaard's demand that the parties themselves must bring a plan for financing is untimely.

Especially because he himself proposes that the additional CO2 reductions should be found by means of CO2 capture and storage.

- When the government states that their main focus is on some specific instruments, which are some of the most expensive, then you can say that they have locked themselves in, because almost everything the rest of us can come up with will be cheaper, says Pia Olsen Dyhr.

/ritzau/