Eric Heymann, of the Deutsche Bank Research unit, said that the EU’s Green Deal was impossible to realize as long as there are ideological objections among citizens against some technologies in a situation which requires all technologies to be used. The German resistance against low-emission nuclear power and carbon capture is indicative, Heyer writes, but he himself states that he does not endorse any specific form of energy. The Green Deal’s ambitions require a total change of life styles, but relying on the usual procedures will make the Deal fail, Heyer warns:
“With regards to the Green Deal, it is impossible to make the EU completely climate neutral in only 30 years if we rely only on the technologies that are both available and politically acceptable today. Claiming that climate neutrality is or can become a growth strategy is an instance of wishful thinking.... The next one to three years will be decisive. We will see whether we, as a society, are ready for an honest democratic discussion about climate neutrality. We will have to deal with inconvenient questions and inconvenient truths. But if this discussion does not take place, climate neutrality will remain a topic for fine speeches and promises – and nothing will be said, much less done, that could hurt anybody.“
“A certain degree of eco-dictatorship will be necessary,“ Heymann goes on writing, “The impact of the current climate policy on people’s everyday lives is still quite abstract and acceptable for many households. Climate policy comes in the form of higher taxes and fees on energy, which make heating and mobility more expensive. Some countries have set minimum energy efficiency standards for buildings or similar rules in other areas. However, climate policy does not determine our lives... If we really want to achieve climate neutrality, we need to change our behaviour in all these areas of life. This is simply because there are no adequate cost-effective technologies yet to allow us to maintain our living standards in a carbon-neutral way. That means that carbon prices will have to rise considerably in order to nudge people to change their behaviour. Another (or perhaps supplementary) option is to tighten regulatory law considerably. I know that “eco- dictatorship” is a nasty word. But we may have to ask ourselves the question whether and to what extent we may be willing to accept some kind of eco-dictatorship (in the form of regulatory law) in order to move towards climate neutrality.“
