Students on strike against climate change in Germany, 18.1.19, photo SAV (CWI Germany)

Students on strike against climate change in Germany, 18.1.19, photo SAV (CWI Germany)   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

The Coal Commission, set to discuss the end of German coal energy to meet climate change targets, has presented its results – wait up to 20 years to shut down the last polluting plants while giving billions of euros to big business.

The Commission has met mass resistance. Over several weeks, school student protests – ‘Fridays for future’ – demanded an end to coal energy as soon as possible.

10,000 school students walked out on 25 January. They describe the commission results as unacceptable, but Greenpeace and the Green Party agreed to it! Sozialistische Alternative (CWI Germany) is part of the environmental movement and the school student protests.

We call for an immediate end to using brown coal, conversion to renewable energy, and guaranteed retraining and work for every job at risk in the mines, paid for by the energy companies. We demand the nationalisation of the energy companies under democratic workers’ control and management as a step to democratically planning energy consumption and economic production for the benefit of all.

Michael Koschitzki, Sozialistische Alternative