German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for greater private sector investment to pay for combatting climate change. The call came as lawmakers passed a controversial reform of a climate protection law.
Greater private investment is required to combat climate change, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday, adding that public money from developed countries isn’t enough to stem the tide.
“We need a new approach to financing climate protection,” Scholz told the Petersberg Climate Dialogue (PCD) conference in Berlin. “Discussions which focus only on public financial pledges aren’t nearly enough.”
Scholz pointed out that, according to experts, $2.4 trillion per year until 2030 is required to finance a switch to climate-friendly energy in developing countries.
“That is a gigantic sum,” he said. “With the best will in the world, public money from a small group of countries will not be enough for investment on this scale.”
While insisting that developed nations should continue to take their share of responsibility and highlighting the €6 billion ($6.4 billion) that Germany invested in climate protection and conversion in developing countries in 2022, Scholz called on the private sector to help shoulder the burden.
