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German environment minister wants 'green' cars to be cooler |
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German environment minister Matthias Machnig called for the automobile industry to develop cooler cars in a bid to get more drivers to swap to "greener" vehicles, at a Fabian fringe.
Asked about whether Germany and the UK needed to tackle citizens dependency on cars to reduce CO2 emissions, Machnig suggested the solution was about developing greener cars. "It is not about the fuel price.The key is the CO2 standards." "How can we make our cars more sexy, more cool?"
Speaking at the Environment Union Fabian event with Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, Machnig said the European Union had a clear role to play."We are the engine of this process, without the EU, without clear targeting, we are not going anywhere. We have to make that clear. We need to make a difference in economic development for the next few years.
But he argued that the EU had much to gain economically by being greener. "Becoming the most energy and resource efficient area of the world will make us the most competitive."
Regions like Brazil and China would want to join a post Kyoto agreement and growing sustainable development was possible, he said.
"People will say to us – you are the regions that caused 90-95% of the problems of climate change. We have to do more because it is your duty. We have to think what is an economic answer to the environmental thesis. We have to prove we are going to reach our targets. Europe has a big chance to be the leading green economy in the world."
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