Climate money has to come: refueling and heating will be more expensive in 2024

Climate money must come now – Supreme Consumer Advocate Ramona Pop

According to a report by www.rnd.de,

Germany's top consumer advocate is calling for climate money to be speeded up. Ramona Pop, head of the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (VZBV), is of the opinion that the climate money promised by the traffic light coalition for private households must come now. She criticizes the fact that the CO₂ price continues to rise, but the promised compensation through climate money is not happening.

Impact on the market and the consumer

At the turn of the year, the levy on greenhouse gas emissions is set to rise, which will make refueling and heating more expensive. The already high energy costs will continue to rise due to the increase in the price of CO₂. The price per ton of CO₂ is expected to rise to 40 euros from 2024, which will lead to higher costs for consumers, especially those who use fossil fuels.

Pop emphasizes that consumers need compensation for the rising CO₂ price and the resulting rising cost of living. In addition, climate money can make an important contribution to fair compensation for rising energy costs and the acceptance of climate protection measures. The delayed introduction of climate money could lead to frustration and financial strain among consumers.

Payout mechanism and financing

Although Finance Minister Lindner has announced climate money for 2025, financing from the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) remains completely open. It is important that consumers receive their carbon price payments paid out in full as climate money. If the climate money is not introduced until 2025, consumers would also have to receive their previous CO₂ price payments in addition.

The draft economic plan for the KTF envisages that the revenue from CO₂ pricing will increase by around 2.3 billion euros. However, there is still no payment mechanism that ensures that the income flows back to citizens via climate money.