Fake China local weather tasks: Union accuses Environment Minister Lemke of failure | EUROtoday

Status: 01:02 am | Reading time: 2 minutes

DThe local weather coverage spokeswoman for the Union parliamentary group within the German Bundestag, Anja Weisgerber, has accused the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) of not having detected the fraud surrounding faux local weather safety tasks in China in time.

“Faulty certifications and sloppy controls by German authorities have not only caused horrendous financial damage, but also a massive loss of trust in climate protection projects abroad,” Weisgerber advised WELT AM SONNTAG: “Chicken coops instead of efficient gas boilers – this is just one of many examples of climate protection projects in China that do not actually exist, but which are counted towards the greenhouse gas reduction quota.”

“The damage is worth billions”

The Union's rapporteur for environmental legislation, Christian Hirte, additionally attributed duty for the scandal to Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens): “The Federal Environment Agency and the Federal Environment Ministry have completely failed,” stated Hirte: “UBA President Messner and the responsible minister Lemke have either tacitly accepted these conditions or they have not got their own business under control.”

The fraud case is “not a matter of peanuts, but of billions of dollars in damage,” stated the Union politician: “If it turns out that President Messner and Minister Lemke cannot fully clarify the matter, they will have to face the question of whether they are the right people for this task.”

In a specialist dialogue of the Union within the German Bundestag final Thursday, representatives of the ADAC, the Farmers' Association and the biofuel business additionally accused the Federal Environment Agency and the German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHST) of not having responded to warnings from the business for months.

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It entails round 75 local weather safety tasks, primarily in China, with which mineral oil firms can meet a part of their greenhouse fuel quota in Germany. According to analysis by German bioenergy firms, which was verified on website by the ZDF journal “Frontal21”, lots of the alleged local weather safety tasks in China don’t even exist. The Capital Office for Bioenergy, an curiosity group for the business, estimates the injury to the German local weather safety sector within the transport sector at 4.5 billion euros.

German certification places of work are apparently concerned within the proceedings. UBA President Dirk Messner stated on the listening to within the Bundestag that he believes there’s a “network of fraud”. His company has now contacted the general public prosecutor's workplace and the Foreign Office and requested Chinese authorities for administrative help. His company has “reached the limits” of its inside capabilities for the checks. That is why a legislation agency is now being introduced in to research the allegations of fraud.