Environmental groups are demanding that the German government not cut funding for efforts to address climate change amid tough negotiations over a reduced 2025 budget.
In a joint appeal published on Friday, several large advocacy groups appealed to Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck not to allow cutbacks on "necessary investments in greenhouse gas neutrality" as well as international funding for climate initiatives.
They argue that the investments now will prove to be far cheaper than the evental cost of having failed to address climate change.
The letter was signed by the leaders of the German League for Nature and Environment (DNR), the German Association for Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), Environmental Action Germany (DUH), Germanwatch, Greenpeace Germany and the Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU).
Scholz's three-party coalition is locked in difficult negotiations over the 2025 draft government budget, which includes deep proposed cuts at several ministries to address large budget shortfalls.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner, a leader of the pro-business liberal Free Democrats (FDP), has insisted that the government must abide by strict rules against government borrowing and deficit spending.
"The current negotiations for the 2025 federal budget will not only decide whether social cohesion can be maintained, they will also decide whether Germany can achieve its climate targets, which are binding under international law," according to the letter.
The letter also criticized the tight budget restrictions, arguing that failing to make "necessary investments in the climate-neutral transition" now would also endanger Germany's economy.